The Fire Within
by FC4
Summary: A dark, dramatic tale exploring what happens when a pyromancer loses control of his emotions, and how it changes him personally and magically, and changes his friendships as well. Nothing is left untouched by the wild fire. Rated M for adult themes and violence, and because sometimes, things just don't turn out pretty. Characters used from The Adventurum! Reviews welcome!
1. Introduction

**_Disclaimer:_ **_KingsIsle owns everything presented here. Obviously._

_**Disclaimer 2: **It occurred to me recently that I should probably make this known. My characters, for the purposes of this story, are around college age. I view Ravenwood as more of a high school/college sort of institution, even though the game constantly calls the students 'kids' and 'children'. This view is because I try to bring game worlds I write about to life, and having Ravenwood as a college nicely covers many things. Such as why everyone can read and do math without taking such classes. It also nullifies the slightly disturbing notion that the faculty and staff of Ravenwood, Pigswick, and probably Dragonspyre once, are all more than willing to put children into dangerous situations, rather than handle the dangers themselves. I am also of the opinion that taking on Malistaire took a few years, not a few weeks. These views make the subject matter of this fanfic a little more appropriate for the characters than if I was using 14 year old wizards. I realized some folks might like to know this, and I couldn't think of how to present this in-story without it seeming terribly contrived and out of place.  
_

**_Author's__ Intro:_** _I would like to explain a few things before one begins the reading of this story. First off, you will not find explicit Wizard nooky in this fanfic, at all. While such adult themes will be playing a massive part in the plot, they are not important enough to detail. Rather, this is an exploration into the effects of love and its various complex emotions on a Wizard's magical abilities. Specifically on Pyromancers, who are a passionate breed. It is a dramatic, and hopefully deep, adventure into the emotional side of the Spiral, which is often untouched. It is rated M because it will be dark and deadly, not sweet and cheery. _**  
**

_While this story involves my characters (Talon Skullflame, Kane Darksword, and Miguel Spellblade) and my lady's (Rowan, Tasha, and Alia) from the Adventurum series, this story is not part of that series. Namely because this story is not short or sweet, but long and wicked. But also because it takes place well after any of the Adventurum stories. However, I most certainly think you ought to read the Adventurum nonetheless, as events from there may receive cameo mentions.  
_

_And now, I would like to invite you to join me in an exploration of love triangles, lust, jealousy, and what happens when one loses control...  
_

* * *

**The Fire Within**

Talon Skullflame was an excitable, childish sort of fellow who never could stop seeking out fun, or control his impulsive behavior; the sort of guy who always seemed to stumble into trouble, or mess something up unintentionally. A cheerful, energetic pyromancer with a branching interest in theurgy, who once saw good in everything and everyone, even the worst people; the sort of man who kept anger under control through optimism, humor, and a touch of naivety.

Until tonight.

Tonight, Talon and his five 'friends' –Miguel Spellblade, Tasha Stormcaller, Alia Sunsword, Kane Darksword, and Rowan Skulldreamer- were staying over at the girls' childhood home in Grizzleheim. The owner of the estate, a land baron by the name of Stag Stormsword, was the father of the twins, Alia and Tasha. Their older sister's father was Roderick Skulldreamer, but from what Talon could understand from Rowan's storytelling, he died when she was born. Their mother, Marie Suncaller, had eventually remarried and had the twins, but while the girls got used to Rowan's uniqueness early on, Talon could tell that even now, Stag was not entirely comfortable around his necromancer step-daughter.

Talon completely understood why; there was something unnatural about Rowan that made the Life energies within him uneasy. But he just couldn't stay away from her, even when he wanted to. Since the day he met that mysterious girl and set his eyes on her softly tanned skin, raven black hair and gorgeous emerald eyes, he'd been in love. A furious, burning love that consumed him like the flames he claimed dominion over. An unrequited love, for there was just one problem with this tall, dark, and beautiful creature.

She was undead.

According to Rowan, she had technically never even been born, therefore had never even lived. She was a stillbirth, taken by Death himself before she could even take her first breath. Her father was a powerful necromancer and –unwilling to let go of his first child so easily- had struck a deal with Death; his soul for her life. Death agreed, of course, but as was typical of such stories, her father had not been specific enough in their agreement. Death did revive Rowan, true, but not to full life. Instead she had become a sort of perfect undead, a being of death that would grow and mature like any child, never rotting or showing her lack of life in any physical manifestation. She didn't need to eat, sleep, or even breathe, and only did so to ease those around her. Ectoplasm ran through her veins, not blood, and her skin was like ice. Upon reaching maturity, she would never age, never die of natural causes, but be eternally beautiful.

Of course, when Talon first learned of her 'condition', it set his nerves on edge. But she was a good friend by then, and they had fought together against Malistaire's forces in many a battle. He felt he could get past that, somehow, and love her still. And while it still occasionally bothered him, he had managed to put that little problem aside.

But this… no, there was no getting past this. Not a second time.

The first time had been different. A sort of boyfriend-swap between the two sisters, Alia taking Talon and Rowan taking Kane, for reasons only the girls knew. At the time, Talon went through with it for only two reasons, and two reasons alone; Alia had him tied to a bed, and Rowan had agreed to it. But it still hadn't sat well in his heart. He had assumed that was the first –and only- time such a swap would occur, so devotedly avoided Alia's advances afterward.

Foolishly, he had assumed Rowan and Kane had done so as well. But as he walked down the hall towards the room graciously provided by Rowan's parents during the night, he passed by Rowan's old room, hearing a soft, distinctive sound. Until he had heard that sound, his world had been simple, a happy world where good always won.

_How could she do this to me?! _He wondered as he heard them, anger flickering up inside him, licking at the once strong core of hope and trust he had held towards his two friends. He worked so hard to show her that she was more than an emotionless husk of dead flesh, to show her joy and love and compassion, prove to her that she was more beautiful than her undead status implied, and this was how she repaid him.

Talon's anger took control, but not overwhelmed him; not yet. He forced himself to concentrate, to not barge in and make a scene. That would be the foolish thing to do, and his foolishness caused this. If he hadn't been so naïve, he would have known, would have seen the signs, and could have done something. But now…

Now he was going to make them pay, little by little. He was going to fill them with regret for what they had done to him. And it would start with a warning; simple, plain, and everlasting.

With a finger glowing orange with heat, Talon carefully touched the wooden door to Rowan's room, and proceeded to write upon its surface. He concentrated hard on ignoring the noises coming from the other side, focusing instead on his work.

In just a few short minutes, he was done, and stepped back to inspect his work with a grim satisfaction that was unusual for the pyromancer. Pleased with his message, he turned away, but not to his room. Rather, he headed back the way he came, and then left the house through the back door silently, walking with quiet determination through the gardens.

Marie was a Marleybonian woman, and made a point of bringing some culture to the untamed wilds of Grizzleheim. To that end, the estate looked like a piece of Marleybone dropped into the heart of a frigid pine forest. Talon only stopped to look back when he reached the back of the grounds. A few lights were on, but from this distance, he could not tell if his work was discovered.

Turning back to the wilds, Talon's shoulder blades began to burn, tongues of fire growing out of his back. The twin gouts of flame expanded before Talon crouched and then launched himself into the air. With a single powerful beat, the flames withered away, leaving fiery orange scales in their wake. Hovering for only a moment, Talon beat his draconic wings again, ascending over the estate walls and into the forest beyond.

Since he knew they would come looking for him, Talon made sure to leave scorch marks intermittently throughout the forest, a false trail to keep them busy. He wanted to be alone for awhile, preferably a long while. After an hour or so of travel, he touched down on the ground, uttering a single word. In a flash of fire he was gone, retreating to his own tree house refuge for the solitude he so desired.

Eventually they would find the message. And Talon made sure they would not quickly forget it, either, for with a precision more careful than he had ever been in his life, he had scorched the surface of that door with two words. The scorching was not deep in the wood, but he made sure that it was deep enough that scrapping the charred layer off would result in the slightest of indents in the wood. Indents that, in the right light at the right angles, would reveal those two words for as long as that door remained in that house.

**I KNOW**


	2. One Week Later

**One Week Later**

Five wizards sat in a restaurant in Wizard City, sharing an appetizer while they waited for their food to come. They all wore plain robes in the colors of their primary schools of magic, having no need to wear their battledress for now. Malistaire had been defeated, and there were more students to tackle other threats in the Spiral.

But what should have been a relaxing, laughter-filled lunch was weighed down by a proverbial helephant in the room, and none of their eyes met. Silence was only defeated by the crunch of tortilla chips being eaten by two of the party. It wasn't long before even Kane grew uneasy, violet eyes glancing towards Miguel at intervals. Miguel's own brown eyes were fixed on Kane with disgust. It wasn't long before his temper got the better of him.

"Will you stop staring at me already?" Kane snapped, grabbing another chip. "What's gotten into you?"

"I am fairly certain you know why I stare at you, traidor," Miguel softly rebuked, his arms remaining folded over his chest and his dark complexion only serving to darken his expression.

"And if it is the reason I think it is, then you have no reason to be staring at me like that, Alia," Rowan remarked, but Alia just huffed, brown eyes and frowning visage disagreeing with her sister's claim.

"She has every reason to be staring at you like that, Rowan, and you know it," Tasha suddenly snapped, looking possibly more furious than Alia. That fact alone made her more frightening to Kane right now than her husband beside her. "And here we thought Talon knew already, or you four had made some sort of… arrangement," she cringed with disgust, "which in itself would be terribly inappropriate."

"But preferable to una relación amorosa," Miguel added, "which is wrong even by your standards, amigo."

"Look, it's not an affair!" Kane shouted back, making a couple of other patrons to the restaurant look in their direction. He swiftly lowered his voice. "It's just a no-strings-attached deal, alright? If Talon can't handle that, that's his problem, not mine."

"Do you even care that he has been absent for a week since we visited Grizzleheim?" Miguel asked, "Even a little?"

"Nope!" Kane replied without hesitation. "In fact, I'm rather enjoying being able to study my work uninterrupted. Until you two," he pointed at Tasha and Miguel, "pulled me out for this ridiculous luncheon discussion."

"Well I am, at least, a little worried," Rowan admitted, frowning deeply. "It isn't like him to play hermit."

"Nice to know you have a semblance of a heart," Alia snorted, looking out the window to the shoppers on the street, not at her sisters or friends. From her tone, it was obvious it was meant to insult. Normally, this would have solicited a prompt chide from Tasha; it didn't.

"That was rather rude of you, Alia, I'm hurt," Rowan stated with the thinnest of sarcastic layers. She could tell that this time, Alia meant it.

"Join the club," Alia snarled back, not once looking at her older sibling. Sparks crackled over her robe.

"It was also rude of you, Rowan, to not inform Talon of this," Tasha responded, quelling any sort of argument between her sisters. She put a hand on Alia's arm, stroking it gently in a comforting gesture. "You should have discussed it with him, after the first time."

"We did discuss it, in a long and drawn out argument in which I told him I loved him but wasn't willing to marry him because I don't feel that sort of commitment is right for me," Rowan explained harshly.

"Doesn't mean you had the right to sleep with his friend behind his back," Miguel reasoned, looking at Rowan now, "Marriage commitment, perhaps not, but you were still una pareja."

Rowan put her head in her hands, sighing with frustration. _How did everything go so wrong so quickly?_ This lunch was quickly degenerating into a talk with her mother, and she already had dealt with that.

"We were never friends," Kane growled from the back of his throat, "I've been wanting to be rid of that ridiculous pyromaniac clown since he met me."

"And that makes it better _how?_" Miguel stressed, unfolding his arms to point a finger straight into Kane's face. "And have you forgotten how many times Talon has been instrumental in our fight with Malistaire? How many times he has saved each and every person at this table from muerte?" Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Or major injury?" He added.

Kane frowned, groaned, and lowered his head, muttering that he had tried, hard, to forget the oaf's fleeting bouts of usefulness. Rowan shook her head.

"The way I see things, amigo, Talon is the bueno amigo you never asked for, and you ought to be thankful to have," Miguel concluded.

"Well, I see things differently, Miguel, but thanks for your unsolicited insight," Kane retorted, growing even more annoyed with every word those two do-gooders spoke. He rose from his seat just as the food was arriving, having not really been interested in eating with them to begin with. "Now if you will excuse me, I have some really intriguing texts on the mythical history of Avalon to read. As to Talon, I'm sure he'll get over it in a few more days, and frankly I don't care. But if any of you want to go check up on him, be my guest."

Without another word, the conjurer left, slamming the restaurant door behind him. The moment he was outside, he burst into a shower of gold and blue sparks, disappearing.

"I… should probably take that as my cue to leave as well," Rowan stated, and Tasha and Miguel narrowed their eyes at this. The waiter set the food on the table, pausing at hers and Kane's plates. "Just give them to someone else, my treat," she told the waiter, before pulling out some coins. "Here's our tab," she said without thinking, placing the gold on the table. The others were silent as she left.

When she was outside she finally realized that the 'here's our tab' probably didn't sound any better in her sister's eyes. _Way to prove you aren't a couple_, she thought, before disappearing as well in a shadowy mist.

"Meals were a lot more fun with Talon around…" Tasha sighed, picking up her fork.

* * *

Unlike Kane, who went straight home, Rowan instead teleported to Talon's Spiral Door, intent on checking up on him and possibly try to patch things between them. Tasha and Miguel were right, and she did feel bad about it. But probably not as bad as they thought she should. And she was honestly worried about Talon. It wasn't like him to be gone for so long without telling someone. And he rarely traveled alone. _I hope he hasn't hurt himself…_

When she arrived at the Spiral Door of his tree house sanctuary, her fears were not eased. While the sanctuary was surrounded by an earthen wall, it did end on each side of a cobble pathway leading to the Spiral Door. But that pathway was currently blocked by a towering, thick wall of vines, whose leaves obscured the view of the other side. However, she thought she could smell smoke coming from within, and that worried her. He loved his tree house and his gardens more than anything in the Spiral. Something had to be seriously wrong for him to be burning them.

She reached out to touch the vines, hoping to make them recede with her Death magic and clear the way. The leaves began to wither, but she went no further as a vine suddenly lashed out, whipping her across the wrist.

"Oww!" Rowan exclaimed, stepping back. Some of the vines parted, making a small hole at the base of the wall, and a small unicorn walked through.

Until now, Rowan never could have claimed to have seen a unicorn glare at someone. But this little unicorn, likely the stallion of Talon's personal herd, was very much not pleased with her presence, and lowered his horn, stamping his little hooves on the ground.

"Alright, fine!" Rowan shouted through the vines, "If that's the way you want to be, then good riddance!" She promptly became engulfed in smog and disappeared.


	3. Dear Diary

**_Author's Note:_**_ This chapter was mostly written by my lovely woman, the creator of Rowan and the girls. I added some of my own writing to facilitate the merger of the chapter into the story, but the core diary and Miguel/Tasha interactions are all her writing. She had wrote it without intention of it being included, but nothing gives better insight into a character than the creator themselves. _

_I hope you enjoy_**_  
_**

**Dear Diary**

When they had gotten married, Tasha had agreed to do the proper thing and move into Miguel's place. It was a very nice place, to be sure. A large estate inherited from the Sorcerer's father during the time of the Malistaire crisis, it had three floors, a basement, and a lovely canal view. It even had a greenhouse where Miguel allowed her to continue her gardening hobby.

But it wasn't the same. Sometimes, at times like these days, she missed her giant palace, with its cold stone walls and large, open rooms; and her piggles. Miguel had put his foot down on the piggle issue, saying a gentleman never let any kind of pig into his house. She had a feeling he just didn't like them, but they compromised quickly that they could remain in her palace. Her palace had become a bit of a summer home for the aristocratic couple, a little getaway from the upper nobility when either of them needed it. From the way things were progressing with her friends, they might soon need it.

Right now, though, they were sitting by the fireplace on the second floor of the manor, Miguel in an armchair and Tasha on the sofa. A small wooden golem, about waist height, came up to them holding the evening news and a book. He handed the newspaper to Miguel.

"Gracias, señor Winston," Miguel thanked the golem, taking the paper and proceeding to read. With a bow Winston moved to Tasha, handing her the book.

"Thanks, Winston," She said, smiling and taking the little book from him. It was her diary. The little wooden butler, despite having no eyes or ears or even brain, always knew what time during the day Tasha liked to write in her diary. "I think I will write in it today, so I might be awhile." She didn't always write in her diary, so Winston liked to wait for her to decide, in case he needed to put it back for her.

Tasha really liked Winston; for such a plain wooden thing, he had a lot of personality and life. It was just one of a few signs for Tasha that Kane wasn't as heartless as he seemed. The little golem had been a wedding present for them that Kane had carved and enchanted himself, creating a permanent version of a minion he tended to summon in battle. When Miguel had inquired as to why Kane was giving such a gift, the conjurer had replied that since he had a woman now, he needed all the help he could get. Alia and Rowan had laughed; she hadn't found it so funny. But then Talon had asked why he didn't get one for his birthday, and Kane snapped about him likely burning it on accident on the first day. Everyone had laughed at that.

_Talon…_

Tasha really did miss the pyromancer. He had always been so cheery and lively, loosening up the serious air that everyone else in the group seemed to carry so often. Sighing, Tasha flipped through her diary to the next blank page, picking up a quill and dipping it in the ink thoughtfully provided by Winston.

Tasha had been in the habit of writing in a diary at least once a week since she was a girl. Whereas many of her older entries had fond childhood memories and daydreams about Miguel, lately her diary entries had been anything but cheery. This one was no different.

_Dear Diary, _

_Today was the luncheon with my sisters, Kane, and Miguel. It didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Alia has been stewing over the situation for the last week though she promised not to. She said something mean about Rowan's lacking a heart and I just let her! I mean, I know Alia is hurting but it doesn't do any good to throw Rowan's condition in her face. It's not like Rowan can help what she is. _

_But at the same time, I really do feel that she and Kane ought to have been more open about what they were doing. If Alia and Talon had known sooner, perhaps this could've been avoided. Or perhaps not. Ugh, I just don't know whose side I'm supposed to be on here. They're both my sisters; how am I supposed to choose?! _

_And, while it seems a little off topic, I wonder if maybe Rowan and Kane have drawn closer because of the trouble. They left almost simultaneously today and Rowan paid for both of their lunches. A few days ago I heard them refer to something that happened in Zafaria recently, so I suppose they're traveling together now too. Seems like a silly thing to do right now, go traveling. As if that will solve anything, the problems are still here when you get back._

She laid down her pen for a moment and sighed. Miguel looked up from his evening newspaper.

"Something bothering you, Tasha," he questioned.

"Just pondering over things," she answered. "I just want everyone happy again."

Miguel laid the paper aside and patted his lap. Tasha cuddled against him and nuzzled his neck.

"I'm afraid, mi amor, that I can only make one person happy," Miguel said, "and tonight, that's you."

Tasha smiled and closed her eyes. "I think I like the sound of that."


	4. Another Week Passes

**Another Week Passes**

"I didn't know you took up gardening, Kane," Rowan remarked as she walked through his study, seeing all the magical gardening books he had on the central tables. It was –probably literally- the whole library's section on magical gardening practices.

"I haven't," he grumbled, throwing another book on the table before him. "Useless, useless, and already tried that."

She was visiting him in what was becoming a regular meet up, where she repeatedly tried to talk with Kane about the 'Talon problem' and he repeatedly refused to talk about it, claiming to be happy with the result. He didn't even sound surprised about Talon possibly burning his house to the ground. His exact response the last time she had brought it up was: "Surprised it hasn't happened sooner."

She was beginning to be even happier that they kept an emotionally detached relationship, because he was proving to be even more heartless about the situation than she thought possible, even for her. With the way he was behaving, she would have been ashamed to call him her boyfriend.

"So, what's with all the books then?" Rowan asked, picking up 'Removing Common Magical Pests' and flipping through the pages. "Have a locust problem?"

"Did you not notice anything _different_ when you were on the surface?" Kane asked. Rowan shrugged.

"Nope. Truthfully I stopped paying attention to your little pet project up there when you stopped finding mummies," she explained, placing the book back.

"Fair enough," Kane sighed. His 'pet project' was an archeological dig he had been going at for years in the ruins that were situated around the desert oasis beneath which his villa existed. The house itself was an underground villa of several bridge-connected rooms loomed over by a giant Judgment statue from which water fell. Long ago, it had been a meeting place for the Order of the Fang, and one of their tombs was situated in the sands above.

"Let me show you the problem, then," Kane decided, getting up and leading Rowan up to the surface. There, he proceeded to point it out. Once he showcased it, Rowan finally noticed; right in the center of his oasis was a firebush, surrounded by nothing but sand and completely inappropriate for a desert environment.

"Oh," Rowan wasn't sure what to say, staring at the bush. "Um… how did that get here?"

"I have no idea, but it came with a note from our favorite new recluse," Kane muttered passing her a piece of bark the size of an average page of parchment. It was rather thick bark, looking rather familiar. Also familiar was the way the words were etched into the wood by scorching, although the very fine script suggested he hadn't used his finger this time.

_Kane,_

_I realize now that you never actually wanted me around, so refusing to acknowledge your existence is probably what you want me to do. Therefore, I've left you a parting gift, 'friend'. Something to remember me by, forever. I'm sure you'll never forget me._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Your First Friend_

As Rowan was reading the inscription, Kane's Spiral Door opened, revealing Alia in purple and green student robes. She closed the door behind her gently, before slowly making her way over to the duo. Kane wanted to snap something about her showing up, but the look on her face made him bite his tongue. She looked apologetic, and honestly, too cute for any man to be mad at for no reason.

"Yes, Alia?" He finally asked, as she seemed to be waiting for them to speak.

"I… um," Alia began, wringing her hands. "I've thought about all… _this_, and I've decided to forgive you two. I was a bit too hasty, perhaps, on being angry. You were right, Rowan, I don't have much room to be angry." Kane sighed with relief. At least someone was going to stop bothering him about this whole mess. "But on one condition!" Alia raised a finger and looked a Kane, biting her lip.

"Do you still love me?"

"Alia," Kane sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I don't _love_ anybody. Got that?" When her face darkened, Kane quickly reacted to try and fix his error. "But I do like you quite a lot."

"Good enough," Alia shrugged, rapidly closing the distance between them and pulling Kane into a kiss. It caught him off guard, but he didn't necessarily mind. It was hard to argue with a beautiful girl.

"What's that?" Alia asked when she finally allowed Kane to inhale something other than her tongue, looking over her shoulder at the bark in Rowan's hand. Until then, Rowan had been watching Alia make out with Kane with some amusement.

"A note from 'our favorite new recluse', as Kane so eloquently put it," Rowan explained, handing it over. Alia looked it over, and then looked at the firebush.

"So, how is it 'forever' if the bush is just gonna die in this desert?" Alia asked, pointing at the shrub.

"It won't," Kane answered.

"Won't what?" Both girls asked.

"Die," he clarified, moving over to some of his excavation equipment and picking up an axe. "Observe." He approached the bush, poised himself for a mighty swing at the trunk of the plant, and proceeded to follow through.

The resulting explosion knocked all three of them into the sand a few feet away. When they got up, the firebush was still there, completely unharmed. Kane propped an arm on the axe.

"Observed," Rowan proclaimed, dusting the sand out of her clothing.

"I cannot chop it down in any manner, for touching the bush causes it to explode. For three days I have tried using Death magic, Marleybonian pesticides, and a few of those anti-magical-plant gardening spells. Each time, the bush was fully grown back the following morning," Kane explained, glaring at the glowing orange bush.

Alia looked at the bark note again, and nodded approvingly. "Not bad at all. No idea how he managed such a powerful magic, but… that is a dastardly payback right there. It's like he took a page right out your playbook, Rowan," she said, looking at her sister, who was not sharing the approving visage. "He keeps this up, I think I'm going to actually start liking him."

Rowan was not enjoying this new behavior as much as her sister. Talon was not the kind of guy who held a grudge or sought revenge. And he certainly didn't do something like this. This was too devious for the Talon she knew.

"Alia, I need you to go check up on Talon for me," Rowan said. Alia looked confused. "I would myself, but I got chased out by a unicorn last time."

"Seriously?" Kane interrupted.

"Yes, seriously. His unicorns are pretty ticked off right now," Rowan replied.

"Alright, I will," Alia giggled, "If only to save you from the evil unicorns."

* * *

When Alia arrived at Talon's sanctuary, she found the entrance to be still covered in vines. However, when she reached to touch them, they didn't recede at all. Instead, one vine began to grow itself onto her hand. Quickly she applied her own Life magic, and the plant receded, followed by the whole wall parting open to allow her access. She cautiously stepped through, wishing briefly that she actually brought her sword, just in case Talon proved hostile.

And it was possible, considering the state of his sanctuary. It looked like most everything except for the central tree had been burned to the ground. The fountain in the courtyard was steaming, and the statues of various creatures of the magical schools were charred. His unicorn herd moved about the ashen forest with a depressed gait.

"Talon?" Alia called out, looking around the smoking cinders. The small pond and waterfall off to the right was boiling, and as she frowned at this, she heard a reptilian screech. She ducked in time to avoid a dive attack from a small black dragon with golden wings and horns. As it turned for another attack, Alia shouted.

"Talon, call off your dragon! It's me, ALIA!"

"Dakota, stand down," came a stern, strong voice, and Dakota –who Alia swore was once blue and orange- turned from her and glided towards a spot further down the path. As he approached shoulder height, a blaze sprung up from the ashes, and a fancifully robbed figure materialized in time for Dakota to land.

"Come to make fun of me, did you?" His voice was curt and abrupt, sounding more like Kane with a Talon accent.

"Talon?" Alia did a double take at the man standing a few yards ahead of her. She knew it was Talon –who else could it be- but he didn't look like the Talon she knew. He had traded in his school robes for an older monk-robe style he had worn long ago, whose crimson zigzag hems were trimmed with golden runic symbols. However, whereas before he wore a brown robe, this version was pitch-black, and the gems on his left shoulder and chest were a darker red than she recalled. The color went well with the iron feathers on his left shoulder, but blended in very well with the charred earth around him.

To further surprise her, he wasn't wearing one of his typical hats, but instead a hood that –if she weren't a little shorter than he- obscured his eyes from view under a golden trim stripe, while the rest of the hood was pitch-black like his robe. As Alia was absorbing this new image for Talon, he raised his staff, pointing the dragon at the head towards Alia, the gem held in its claws gleaming with inner fire.

"Is there actually a _reason_ for you being here?" Talon asked in her silence, sounding irate.

"Yes, actually, there is. I'm here to check on you, make sure you're fine," Alia replied quickly. "And you look quite fine, I might add. Love the new getup." But it wasn't just the new clothes that Alia found intriguing. It was Talon's whole demeanor, how he carried himself and his attitude. He didn't seem like that clumsy, awkward boy she'd been fighting beside against Malistaire. He seemed more confident, more aloof; more like Kane.

"We are worried about you though, Talon. We miss having you around," she added when he didn't respond. That made him smirk.

"I presume 'we' doesn't include _them._" He said sternly, still smirking.

"Actually… it does include _one_ of them," Alia replied, knowing what he was meaning instantly. "Kane doesn't appear to miss you at all, though, but I'm sure deep down he does."

"No."

"What?"

"No, he doesn't. And neither does she," Talon added, lowering his staff so the dragon head hovered over the ground. From beneath his hood, Alia could see his hazel eyes ablaze with an inner anger.

"Yes she does, Talon!" Alia snapped, getting a bit annoyed by his claim. "She's said so, openly, in front of everybody. She is worried about you, Talon. And from the look of this place she has every right to be." She motioned at the barren ashen wasteland of his once flourishing sanctuary.

"She lied."

"Excuse me?" Alia growled, hoping she had heard him wrong. "Did I just hear you call my sister a _liar_?"

"Yes, you did."

"She didn't lie, and I know it!" Alia yelled at him. The unicorns winced and Dakota hissed from Talon's shoulder, while the pyromancer seemed… bemused. Several yards separated the two wizards, but now neither was willing to close that gap.

"And I know that she did, Alia. She did lie, has lied, and will always lie. Because that is the only way she can be normal," he said it softly, smoothly, without a hint of ire in his voice. As if he was reading a report on the electrical conductivity of different wand materials. Alia paused her fury, blinking.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" She asked after a moment.

"I mean that just like she has to eat, sleep and breathe around others to be considered normal, she has to fake emotions," Talon explained matter-of-factly. "The last thing she'd want is to appear heartless to us mortals."

Alia frowned, furrowed her brow, and growled softly. She didn't like the direction Talon was taking with this train of thought, but then she remembered her 'semblance of a heart' jab a week ago. Frighteningly, he was making the smallest bit of sense.

"Alia," Talon sighed deeply, like he was about to have to explain basic math to an adult, "Rowan is undead. The undead have no proper emotions, because they are lifeless souls stuck to a lifeless body. The emotional flare just isn't there. Because of that, Rowan never truly loved me. She never _could_, only pretended to keep me happy."

Alia chewed on his words for a moment, the theurgist in her agreeing with his statements. It made a lot of sense. _No! This is my sister!_

"The signs were always there, Alia. I had just ignored them, naively, thinking that she was different. But she's not. She never loved me, or you, or anybody. She only pretends, so she can be treated like she's normal," he was starting, slowly, to sound saddened by what he said. "So it's only natural she would betray my love for her by choosing Kane. Why wouldn't she? He's as cold and heartless as she is, by choice, and he's always been the better wizard. How could this bumbling _oaf,_" he spat the word out, quickly regaining his unnervingly confident, controlled poise, "possibly compete with the brilliant blonde Greek hero of the school?" There was a flash of rage in his voice when he said that, brief but very powerful.

Alia detected his anger, as her own welled up inside her. How dare he say that her sister didn't love her! Gritting her teeth –a move which made her robe pulse with electrical energy- she straightened herself, her own brown eyes glittering with her storming rage.

"You know, Talon, you haven't changed a bit," She shot at him.

"How so?" He seemed intrigued by her statement and eager to hear an answer.

"Before, you were a cute guy, until you opened your mouth. Now, you are quite hot, and not temperature wise. And then you opened your mouth, and said some of the most horrible remarks towards my sister I have _ever_ heard. You had better straighten yourself out, Talon, otherwise next time I might not be so nice," her threat was obviously venomous, and without waiting for his answer, she engulfed herself in an orb of lightning, disappearing as it sparked out of existence, disturbing the ashes on the ground.

"I have straightened myself out," Talon told the air where she had stood, seeming not to care that she was gone. "And if you back up your threat, I'll straighten you out too."

He abruptly turned and walked up the wooden porch ramp to his tree house's front door, one of the few things not yet burned. When he slammed it behind him it burst into flames.


	5. Couple of Days Later

**_Author's__ Note:_**_ The chapters are getting longer right now because of the chapter format I am using at this time, keeping the chapters within the actions of a single day. This makes a timeline of events easier for me to track, and results in larger chapters as we reach the obligatory climatic battle. Fret not, however, as the chapter format will change for the battle. Don't want one gigantic wall of fighting text. Please review and tell me what you think so far. _**  
**

**Couple of Days Later**

Two days after Rowan learned of Kane's little 'gift' from Talon, she found a gift of her own on her front porch. It was another piece of bark, likely from the same tree. And, Rowan realized, likely from the large tree at the center of his sanctuary. In the same fine script was another note to her, once more carefully etched into the wood by fire.

_Rowan,_

_I've been thinking about us, and realized something. You never deserved my love. I couldn't think of anything you'd ever done for me that would make me love you as much as I did. Therefore, I can only conclude that it was lust, not love, and became love through my own foolish heart and its childish desire for the unattainable. Because, clearly, you are incapable of loving me. You manipulated my love for you by lying to me, making me feel I had a chance. I had thought you different, but you aren't. You are just like every other vile atrocity of your art. Cold and heartless. Enjoy your loveless unlife without me, because I've grown wise to your games._

_ Your ex-lover,_

Rather than signing it with his name, he had burned a fire symbol into the wood, a symbol which glowed orange with magical energy. She wasn't quite sure if it was enchanted or not, but decided she should probably pay Kane another visit.

When she showed Kane the bark note, he read it over briefly. There was a touch of admiration on his face that irritated Rowan.

"Do _you _agree with him?" Rowan asked harshly.

"Which part?" Kane asked, looking it over again. "The beginning where he regales you with his idiocy and reveals how shallow and hopelessly romantic he was? There, I agree with him. The part about you being cold and heartless like other undead? Well, he's half right," Kane admitted.

"Clarify…" Rowan uttered the word with a cold, menacing gaze that seemed to carry the whisper across the distance between them. Kane shuddered momentarily.

"You are cold," he explained, and Rowan's entire visage collapsed into a frustrated sulk. "But not heartless. If you were, you wouldn't be bothering me nearly as much about his little fit."

There he went, being heartless himself once more concerning Talon's current mental state. It had been nearly a month now, and Kane had yet to show an ounce of concern for his friend. Rowan had enough, and promptly snatched the bark note from Kane and smacked him in the head with it.

"Ow! What in the name of all things mythical did you do that for?!" He snapped, standing up and whirling to face her.

"Because I'm not the one he should be calling cold and heartless! You are!" She was raising her voice to a level higher than the scolding she gave the boys for taking on Nightshade without her. She held the bark up to his face, furious. "Three weeks, Kane! Three weeks he has been holed up in that tree, a tree he is peeling apart to burn notes on! A tree he loved more than me! He has walled himself off and prevented us from getting inside to talk to him! He's writing passive-aggressive notes that are more aggressive than passive, in a handwriting I've only ever seen him use when concentrating hard on making his term papers _readable! _He is being as devious as me, and as mean as you! And you don't give a bloodbat's vomit about his condition!" She practically screamed the last bit into his face, but he had stopped flinching from her anger after the first sentence.

His own teeth were grit in fury at her scolding. _The nerve of the woman!_ "Look, it's because I DON'T give a bloodbat's vomit about that insane oaf!"

He was about to say more, but the moment he said 'oaf', the Fire symbol on Rowan's bark note burst into flames, causing her to drop it immediately. It proceeded unwaveringly to devour his message after leaving Rowan a slightly singed hand, finally smoldering to a pile of ash on the floor of Kane's library.

The two wizards stared at the pile of cinders for a moment, and then looked at each other, then back at the pile. Finally, Kane spoke.

"I never thought he had it in him," his voice held a respect for the pyromancer that was rare.

"That's the last straw," Rowan growled, clutching her hand. "Kane, catch my body."

"What?" His answer was Rowan's body suddenly collapsing, the conjurer rushing to catch her before she landed in ash.

* * *

Alia couldn't get what Talon had said out of her head. As much as she hated him for saying those horrid things, the seed of doubt had been planted. Could he be right? Rowan was undead after all, and every Life student was given at least a rudimentary lesson on the undead, in case they had to tackle a case of rogue necromancy later in their theurgist careers. And her classes had taught her that the undead lacked the spark of life even though the soul was tied to the body. It was a pseudo-life. Could a fake have emotions?

Her entire childhood Rowan had looked after the twins, always there if they needed her, always going off and doing her 'soul-search' thing if they got lost. _It made hide-and-seek really interesting,_ Alia recalled with a smile as she walked through Ravenwood. Rowan had always been the big sister she could count on, always willing to hug her on a hot summer day. As she'd gotten older and better understood Rowan's uniqueness, she occasionally felt jealous, particularly about the whole never aging bit. But she never once doubted Rowan's love for her.

_Could it have all been a lie?_ It was not a thought that sat well with her. Discovering the remote possibility that a core part of your life had been false all along would make anyone nervous. She had to know for sure. Had to settle the matter, answer the question: was Talon going crazy, or did Rowan truly fake her love?

And that was why she was walking through Ravenwood now, heading for the freshly relocated Death School. She needed to talk to Dworgyn about this. He was the only one she knew, besides Kane and Rowan, who would have an answer for her. And she couldn't go to either of them with a question like this.

Alia didn't get very far, however, when she heard a group of first-year students in red-orange garb gossiping by the Ice School. Normally, Alia ignored practically all gossip around Ravenwood. But when Talon's name came up from the group, she couldn't stop herself from eavesdropping.

"I heard the sixth years saying they saw smoke coming from his island," one girl stated. "They think he finally burned his tree house. What Fire wizard would be stupid enough to live in a tree, anyways?" They all giggled.

"I heard that he finally just burst into flames and wouldn't stop burning, and he's now a fire elemental burning everything he touches," said another.

Alia frowned, not liking these rumors, particularly the pleasure these girls seemed to receive from his suffering.

"I heard that he turned into a total hermit because he caught his girlfriend cheating with that blonde hunk from the Myth School."

"Who, Kane Darksword?"

"Yeah, that guy!"

"He's so dreamy!"

"I heard he's a total jerk…" Nobody seemed to share that girl's opinion. "Who was Talon dating, anyways?"

"That unbelievably creepy Death TA," replied one girl with a shudder. Alia growled, low and soft in her throat. They didn't hear her.

"Rowan Skulldreamer, I think her name is."

"Of all the girls to choose from, he picked a necromancer."

"And the most morbid one of all, too! I don't think I've _ever_ seen her smile. _So_ not a good match!"

"She really scares me, to be honest. I don't think she's really human."

Alia couldn't take it any longer, and stormed over to the giggling group of gossipers to set them straight. "Listen up!" They turned to look at the brown-haired, purple-robed intruder to the conversation, sizing her up. "My sister is, in fact, human, she just doesn't find you pathetic wizards funny, or even worth smiling at! And Talon is just having a difficult time right now, so get off his back! Got it?"

They stared at her for a while, perplexed as to why she was snapping at them about all this. Then it seemed to dawn on one of the girls.

"Are you his girlfriend now, or something?" She asked, sneering. "Moved in pretty fast when Rowan dropped him, didn't ya?"

"Oh I bet! I've heard _all_ the stories about you," another said, leering at Alia. "Bet you jumped at the opportunity to get at your sister's ex-boyfriend, didn't you, slut?"

Lightning flashed behind Alia's eyes, though none of the girls seemed to recognize the danger they were in. She tried to hold back her temper; it wasn't working well.

"Come on, girls. Wouldn't want to be late to class because of _her,_" one girl said, and the pack laughed as one, walking past Alia towards the Fire School.

"You know," one girl said to the others as they walked away, "I do actually kinda miss Talon though. He was a great TA," she proclaimed sarcastically.

"Yeah, great for fire shield practice!" They all burst out laughing.

Alia snapped, whipping around and hastily scrawling a sparkling Storm symbol in the air.

* * *

Rowan had a little trick, a skill unique to her that was part of her special form of undead existence. She found it very easy to slip into the afterlife, to the grey netherworld of spirits, and return unscathed. A hard task for any normal necromancer came as naturally to her as breathing _should_; at a young age she would occasionally, unknowingly, slip into the ghostly ether, collapsing and scaring the life out of her mother.

The netherworld wasn't too different from the mortal realm, just grey and dour in comparison. Lacking all color but shades of black and white, it was a dreary and dull place. But Rowan honestly, truly felt at home here. She understood this realm and its lifeless inhabitants better than anyone else.

Heck, she even slipped in now and then to talk with her father.

But for now, she was using her ghostly apparition to survey Talon's sanctuary. Being technically a ghost at the moment, and seeing his ruins from the afterlife, he wouldn't be able to see her yet. But she could change that, once she found him. She looked around, noticing how much darker grey everything was. Since the only tree still standing was the massive centerpiece tree, she quickly assumed everything else had just burned to ash.

The central tree, however, was well on its way to joining them, as Rowan could see grey flames licking up the trunk of the great behemoth. He was actually burning his house down!

Any further observations on the matter were halted by a low sound coming from beneath her. At first she wasn't sure what it was, but then it grew, and became recognizable. It was a song. She looked below her, seeing a herd of unicorns staring up at her.

It wasn't just any song. It was THE Song.

"They know you're here, Rowan," Talon's voice cut through the void, slicing through the singing and digging into her ears with an echoed quality. The netherworld tended to do odd things to sound. "I warned them you might come after me, and told them to keep watch."

Rowan looked around for Talon, but couldn't see him. She cried out his name as the singing grew louder, and he finally appeared. He came from the front door of his tree home, opening it as if it weren't on fire at all. Rowan could only make him out because his dark clothing clashed with the soft grey of the flames behind him. But she couldn't make out his face as it was completely obscured by his black hood.

Rowan knew one thing for certain; she didn't like the new look. It wasn't Talon at all. It looked more like something Rowan would wear if auditioning for a part in The Raven.

"You can't just break up with me on a piece of bark, Talon!" Rowan yelled into the ether, forcing it to obey her and project her voice into the mortal realm. Talon looked directly at her, as if he could see her.

"And you can't just get my love for free," Talon roared back, as Rowan was floating near the edge of his sanctuary in the afterlife, and he was going to make damn sure she heard him. "Not anymore! You can't have my love and Kane's bed all in one convenient, easy to use package, you fiend! One or the other. And you'll have to earn mine, now. Work for it, like everyone else," Talon smirked. "Not that you'd understand that concept."

"Now listen here, you selfish-" Rowan began to screech, but Talon cut her off with a wave of his hand. The unicorns' song grew stronger, cutting her off and causing her to curl in revulsion. Normally, she could resist the effects of the Song of Life on the undead, but in this ethereal state, she was vulnerable like every other ghost to Death's greatest enemy: Life.

"No! You listen!" Talon snarled as he cut her off, fire crackling over his hands. "I am through with you, Rowan Skulldreamer. We are over! You are nothing to me now!" Fiery wings grew out of his back as he spoke. "You are nothing but a mistake of my past, an error to learn from. And learn I have. I have learned the truth about life, about this world, about love. It isn't simple, or pleasant, and it is never fair." His draconic wings formed, and he flew into the air, approaching the space occupied by Rowan's ghost.

She couldn't respond, because the Song was still paralyzing her, and she hated every second of his power over her. The real Talon, the man she had loved, would have never taken advantage of her in this state, like this, to render her powerless. But this wasn't her Talon. This was someone else, someone who had taken over Talon's body and changed his very soul, creating this corrupt monster; a monster that a simple spell battle wasn't going to defeat.

"I cried for a few days, of course," Talon continued, his ether-veiled face only inches from Rowan's. She could see the fire in his eyes, feel the anger radiating off of him like solar flares bursting from the sun's surface. "Who wouldn't, when forced to realize just how foolish and ignorant they had been for their whole life? But you know what, I got over it," he smirked again, looking her directly in the eyes. Rowan didn't doubt any longer; somehow, he had managed to see her against her will. He leaned closer to her, till their noses, had they been on the same plane of existence, would have touched.

"I got over you…" His tone was low and deathly flat, cold and unflinchingly resolute. It made Rowan actually shiver. Talon moved away from her, turning his back on the necromancer and sinking towards the ground. "I've moved on to more… pressing matters. There are other things that have weighed heavily upon me for some time, and now," he landed softly on the ground, his wings dissipating. "I have the power to deal with them."

He didn't even turn to look at her, instead covering his staff in a glimmering light whose color was obscured to her view. "Do tell Kane I am expecting him to visit me," he told her as the Song suddenly grew exponentially fiercer, and Rowan groaned in distress. "I have… _plans_ for him. Goodbye and good riddance, succubus!" Talon shouted over his shoulder, tapping his staff on the ground three times.

A wave of Life magic washed over the necromancer's ghostly form, filling her mind with the Song of Life. She tried to fight it, but in her weaker state, she just couldn't fend off the Song's power, and found herself thrust back into her body.

* * *

Kane was rather used to the dead waking up in his villa, and Rowan's little trick was not a new thing to him either, but regardless, having her suddenly sit up from his bed like she was gut-punched startled the conjurer. He looked at her, noticing the seriously worried look on her face.

And she was worried; even though a small part of her felt she should be furious at Talon for everything he had done to her today. The worry won over because she felt, deep inside her gut, that that wasn't Talon. Something was very, very wrong about this whole thing, and Talon's current behavior was just a symptom of an underlying problem Rowan hadn't yet been able to figure out. She was sure of it.

"Didn't go well, huh?" Kane asked. Rowan didn't answer, but instead looked at the half naked wizard, wearing just his trousers at the foot of his bed. Normally, she'd have found this rather inviting. But right now, she couldn't get Talon's final words out of her mind, and instead of being aroused by Kane's physique, she found herself fearing for his safety. Just what was Talon planning for the conjurer?

And considering Talon's changing state of mind, could Kane survive it?

* * *

"I shouldn't even be here," Alia grumbled, sitting on a bench in Ravenwood's head offices, having just finished receiving a stern scolding from Headmaster Ambrose.

"Alia," Tasha replied, sitting next to her twin sister, "You did attack a group of first year Fire students… in Ravenwood… with a Kraken... Did you really think you'd not get in trouble?"

"No, I didn't," Alia admitted, sulking. "I didn't think at all, actually, I just snapped."

"Why?" Tasha inquired, worried.

"They were insulting Rowan! And Kane!" Tasha looked unconvinced by this news. "And Talon, too! They were poking fun at his current, well… state," Alia shuddered a little, remembering the last time she'd seen the pyromancer, and the terrible things he'd said about her sister. "And they called me a slut…" She muttered under her breath.

"Not entirely undeserving a title, though, is it?" Tasha remarked coolly. While that may have been a terrible thing to call her sister, Tasha was well aware of Alia's lifestyle, and never hesitated to make her disapproval known.

"Maybe, but still! They said I was moving in on Talon the moment he broke up with Rowan," Alia responded.

"Even you know better than that," Tasha nodded in agreement. "You have gone to see him, though, haven't you?" Tasha asked, surprising Alia, who turned to look at her sister to ask how she knew. Tasha shrugged, "Miguel figured that, since both of you were slighted by this whole affair, you would, as he put it… sería aliado contra ellos." Alia looked at Tasha for a moment, before raising an eyebrow.

"What does _that_ mean?"

"I'm not really sure," Tasha admitted, pouting. "I usually don't bother asking for a translation when he slips into his native tongue. I think it meant you two pairing up against them, or the like."

"Well, I have no interest in taking Talon from Rowan to make her jealous, so you can stop worrying about that," Alia told her hastily, "but I did check up on him, because Rowan asked me to."

"Is he not letting her in?" Tasha looked admittedly unsurprised by this possibility.

"She got chased off by an angry unicorn…" Alia let that mental image sink in for a moment, and both girls giggled.

"I didn't know unicorns could get angry," Tasha finally stopped giggling long enough to comment.

"I know, me neither," Alia sat back against the wall, sighing. "But I checked up on him, and…" She stopped, unsure how much of that encounter she wanted to put her angelic twin through.

"And what?"

"He's not himself, Tasha…" she began slowly, "he's changed his whole personality. It was like seeing Kane in Talon's robes. He was gruff, abrupt, all confident and powerful," she flexed her arms and put on her best strong-man face when she said this. Then her face dropped, "and he said things… terrible things about Rowan that Talon never would say."

Worry flashed over Tasha's face, mostly directed at the disheartening air coming from her twin. "Like what?"

"He said she didn't love him, or me, or anybody…" Alia whispered, not looking at her sister but instead at the floor, hunched over with her elbows to her knees.

"That's nonsense!" The thaumaturge's outburst was uncharacteristically sharp, and she stood up and pointed a finger at Alia. "Don't you listen to a word he said! He's wrong!" Alia just continued to stare at the floor until she felt he sister was done with her outburst.

"Except he might not be," Alia muttered, looking back at her sister. "She is undead, after all. She fakes a lot of things to appear natural, even breathing regularly. What if she faked loving us too?"

"But… but she's our sister… of course she loves us," Tasha replied softly, her anger turning to fear.

"And she's undead. That could mean she's emotionless," Alia reiterated, standing. "Either way, that's what I was going to find out before I Krakened those girls. I was going to talk to Dworgyn, see if Talon was right."

"He can't be right," Tasha proclaimed with a resoluteness one would expect from a thaumaturge, "He just can't be. Rowan loves us and I know it, and so do you."

"Well, I'm going to find out for sure, Tasha," Alia replied with almost equal firmness.

"I should tell Miguel about this," Tasha decided, nodding to her self as if there had been an internal argument.

"You go do that," Alia told her, patting her on the shoulder. "I think my detention is coming."

Alia's detention consisted of spending the night helping Dworgyn polish the gravestones in the Death School grounds, a task she was very hesitant to go through with. However, Dworgyn was exactly the person she wanted to talk to anyways, so it worked out well enough, she supposed. The hunch-backed Death Professor handed her a polishing rag and some sort of fluid she couldn't identify, and led her to the graves behind the building.

"Why does this have to be done at night, again?" Alia inquired, shivering in the cold.

"Because they must gleam just right in the moonlight, of course!" Dworgyn's hoarse voice replied, as he walked over to a gravestone and began to polish it slowly with his own rag. "Good evening, professor. I hope you've been sleeping well," he stated cheerfully. Alia groaned and began to rub the marble of her first gravestone.

After about half an hour of making marble gleam in what little moonlight there was, Alia finally asked Dworgyn what had been nagging at her since she left Talon.

"Professor Dworgyn, can the undead have emotions?" The hunchbacked man looked at her with what she guessed was confusion for him, for it didn't look much different from the usual expression on the man's face.

"What spurs this question, child?" He croaked, raising his lantern so the light reached out to cast her in its soft glow.

"I'm just… curious," Alia replied slowly, and the Death professor lumbered over to her gravestone, setting the lantern upon it after begging the pardon of the grave's occupant.

"My body may be malformed, young lady, but my brain is quite functional. This is about Rowan, your older sister, isn't it?" Dworgyn questioned, and Alia was about to ask him how he knew Rowan was her sister, but he tapped a long finger on his wrinkled head to give her an answer. "Like I said, quite functional."

"Now, to answer your question, and put your young mind at ease. Yes, the undead have emotions, of a sort," he began, pulling at his long grey beard in thought. "Usually the undead a wizard summons feel pain, sorrow, vengefulness, or anger; or a combination of those. You might, sometimes, find an undead with a sense of humor. Difficult, admittedly, but possible."

"What about love?" Alia asked, cutting straight to her point. Dworgyn gave a puzzled grunt.

"Well, I don't know about that," he replied after some thought. "It is not found in any records I can think of." Alia's heart dropped at this, and it did not go unnoticed by Dworgyn. "However, your sister is no ordinary undead, dear child. In fact, nothing like her has ever existed before. And I don't think it would be ethical, or appropriate, to study her."

Alia snorted at that, imagining Rowan put in a cage for observational studies. _That_ wasn't going to work very well at all. Dworgyn picked his lantern up off the gravestone, thanking the dead man for his time, before looking at Alia again.

"Personally, child, I think your sister is very capable of emotion, even love. She is the most alive undead I have _ever_ seen, and I would not doubt that she would be abnormal. I can say for certain though, that if she isn't able to love, she is very adept at giving you the closest undead expression to love, and that should count for something. Most undead don't even bother with that."

Alia smiled, his words sinking in. "Thanks Professor, that makes me feel a lot better," she told him.

"Good to hear, dear. Now, make sure to get the corners," he told her, shuffling back to his work. They continued on for another half an hour before Alia's hyperactive mind came up with another question.

"Professor, what about necromancers?"

"What about necromancers?" Dworgyn repeated, shuffling back over to her with mild annoyance. She'd only gotten through one stone so far.

"Can they be heartless?"

Dworgyn considered the question for a time, pondering his answer, before seeming to settle on a good one. "If by heartless you mean emotionless, child, then definitely not. Necromancy involves the manipulation of one's emotions, fear in particular but others as well, and channeling them into your opponent through your spells. If you were emotionless, you would make a terrible necromancer." He nodded fiercely at this, as if there was no argument to that fact. "If by heartless you mean cold and uncaring… well, that's a wizard-by-wizard basis, dear girl. Some choose to appear cold and uncaring to unnerve their opponents, or because that is how they deal with their art."

There was a pause for a time as Dworgyn let Alia consider his answer. "Does that answer your question?" He sounded exasperated by the unexpected lecture.

"Yeah, thanks," Alia said with a grin, returning to her work. But her mind was not on the gravestone she was polishing. Rather, she couldn't stop thinking on Dworgyn's words, and what they meant for Rowan. Talon couldn't be right, according to the Death Professor. He said it was possible for undead to have some emotions, and that if Rowan was truly emotionless she would be a terrible necromancer!

Of course, that applied to Kane as well, then, since he minored in Death magic. Alia must have been right; Kane did miss Talon, he just had trouble expressing it or purposely hid his emotional view of the situation. And then she thought about his statement about not loving anyone, but really liking her. If what Dworgyn said was true, than that meant Kane actually loved her, and that was just his low key, necromancer way of expressing it.

Such knowledge improved her mood and made her polish with greater enthusiasm. It also revealed to her what must be done. She had to show Talon the truth. But how?


	6. The End of Week Three

**The End of Week Three**

Miguel sat at his grand piano, fingers dancing over the keys as he played a piece he had written for a celebration at Wizard City. It had quickly caught on amongst the wizards, becoming a sort of theme song for the city that was a favorite for musicians to play at restaurants and bars. It was inspired by his father, who had taught Miguel that writing music and casting spells were, in principle, the same. It had upbeat sections and soft, gently rolling sections, and generally cheered him when he played it. Of course, the actual piece was meant for more than one instrument, but he liked the piano solo just as much.

It was a good song to think to, as the notes flowed out of him as naturally as his Balance spells, so required little concentration. As he played, he thought about Talon, and the situation as a whole.

A few nights ago, Tasha had informed him of Alia's encounter with the pyromancer, which until then had been the first time anyone had seen him in two weeks. She told him about what Talon had said to Alia, and how it had hurt the girl. This had Miguel more worried than before. Talon was never one to inflict pain on those he considered friends, mental or physical. Not on purpose, anyways. But this sounded far too deliberate to be an accident.

It also sounded to Miguel like Talon had done lots of studying on the topic of the undead, but failed to exercise one of the primary rules of research; multiple sources. Miguel had many of the books on Life magic that Talon definitely had, though Talon almost certainly had more due to Miguel's comparatively limited library space. But Miguel also had several texts on Death magic; even though he found the art repulsing and would never actually practice necromancy, he had to keep his library balanced. He was positive Talon had no such sources at his disposal by choice, and therefore was forming a conclusion concerning Rowan based entirely on one-sided research.

Such an error should be expected though, Miguel reasoned with himself as he played. Talon was never a studious guy, so naturally his studying techniques would be flawed. That didn't worry Miguel much. It was the firm resolution Talon had displayed to Alia that he was correct that worried the Sorcerer. It could make it hard to convince Talon of the error of his ways.

And then there was the seclusion, the deliberate anti-social manner Talon had acquired since the incident. Talon was always a social butterfly, and in fact, was the very founder of the group of friends. It was Talon who befriended Rowan and Kane, and Talon was the first student to approach Miguel when he arrived at the school. All three of them had been unwilling at first to socialize with him –Miguel's reason being that he was so nervous around so much magic for the first time in his life- but Talon had kept at it, every day trying again to befriend them. It was only natural that Rowan's sisters join the group when they enrolled; as one of Rowan's few friends, she of course introduced them to the pyromancer.

To have the heart of the group disappear like this… it was no wonder their time together was becoming steadily more depressing and dull.

Miguel's thoughts –and playing- were interrupted by his heckhound, Sasha, barking outside. He didn't worry about it, as Sasha barked whether the person arriving was friend or foe, but it did mean someone was there he should probably go greet. He headed downstairs and opened the door after hearing the newcomer knocking. Standing on his doorstep was a very distressed Rowan.

"We need to talk," She said quickly.

"Come in," Miguel stepped aside so she could pass, closing the door. "Can I get you something?" He moved to a bar to the right of the front door, motioning to one of the root beer kegs.

"No, thanks," Rowan responded, sitting on one of two sofas placed before a fireplace. Miguel moved to the other sofa, placing his own mug of tea on the elegant coffee table that sat between them. It was his entry hall seating area, primarily for guests. "Is Tasha home?"

"No," Miguel replied, frowning slightly. "Today she wished to tend to her piggles at the castle. Why?"

"Because I don't want her hearing what I have to say," Rowan admitted, leaning back on the couch. "Talon's getting worse." Miguel nodded in understanding, and in his mind came to the conclusion that Talon was _definitely_ getting worse. Rowan wouldn't have come to confide in him otherwise. She rarely, if ever, came to talk with him about much of anything; especially without Tasha.

"Tasha told me that Alia told her something similar," Miguel stated as he sipped his tea, and Rowan narrowed her eyes. "Qué?"

"That's funny, because when Alia finally got around to telling me what she found when she went to check on him, she said he was _fine_," She hissed.

"Well, obviously, he is not. Tasha said he had told Alia some very mean things about you," Miguel informed her, and she shook her head in disgust.

"Probably similar to something he told me, but that's not why I came here," She stated.

"Why did you come, then, cuñada?" Miguel replied, and Rowan looked at him strangely for a moment.

"You've never used that word before… what's it mean?" She finally asked. Normally she could theorize, but she had a feeling Miguel wouldn't call her something that profane. **Ever.**

"Cuñada? I think a direct translation would be 'sister in law'," Miguel stated after a moment of thought. Rowan gave a thoughtful 'hmm' for a moment, then nodded.

"I like the way you say it. Sounds more interesting than sister-in-law," Rowan watched him sip some more tea before finally snapping. "Alright, I'll have some as well if it makes you feel better."

Miguel was quick in prepping her cup, having the hot water already prepared. In short order there was a hot cup of fine Marleybonian tea in her hand as well. With propriety now out of the way, Miguel finally seemed more comfortable, so she could carry on with the reason she came.

"Talon attacked me," She said suddenly, making sure Miguel was not sipping tea when she said it. Miguel, having just recently finished a sip, lowered the cup slowly, and then set the tea on the table.

"Cuñada, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine now. But three days ago I was barely functional," She found his concern sweet, but then this was Miguel. He was concerned about everyone he considered at least a friend, and she was his 'cuñada'.

"How did he hurt you?" Miguel inquired.

"I had no choice but using my ghosting-"

"Do not speak of that in my house, por favor," Miguel interrupted her quickly, knowing where she was going and it sent shivers down his spine. Rowan gave a heavy sigh, but relented.

"I visited him by special magical means since he wouldn't let me physically enter," She paused so Miguel could nod approval at this description. "The method I used leaves me vulnerable to Life magic, and he used it against me."

"And it hurt?" Miguel asked, perplexed. The only Life magic he had ever felt was healing magics.

"Imagine nails on a chalkboard, if you will," Rowan began, and Miguel cringed. "Now imagine that tenfold, surrounding you, and pounding upon your ears incessantly, all the while feeling your skin want to tear itself apart." With each elaboration, Miguel looked even more uneasy until he looked a step away from curling in the fetal position. "Yeah, it hurt," she concluded. "It left me shaking and unable to function for nearly two days. It wasn't until about three days ago that I was actually able to stand. To make matters worse, Talon actually managed to magically force me to remain in my –oh get over it Miguel, he forced me to remain in my body through his magic!" Rowan snapped as the gentleman cringed.

"He can do that?" Miguel frowned.

"That's my reaction, Miguel. That's a level of magic he should not be able to perform as a secondary theurgist, and to be honest, it hurt," Rowan continued to explain, leaning back on the couch again with a groan. "I don't know how you deal with living on a daily basis, Miguel. For two days, his magic made me feel _alive_, and it _hurt_! Everything ached, all my barely healed wounds became painful, my head was pounding…"

"Sounds to me like your body was showing its wear," Miguel noted, forcing himself to sip some tea just to bring a semblance of normalcy to the conversation.

"Thanks for making it sound so typical," Rowan sarcastically tossed back at him, eyes narrowed.

"Because it is, when you treat your body the way you have. Use and abuse, and the body will show it. You just… ignore it," he stated, "what matters more to me is not that being alive hurt you, Rowan, because life hurts and we all deal with it, únete al asociación. But rather that Talon did this to you, and that he could do it to you. That tells me he has done more than brooding, but also studying. Unusual for him," Miguel concluded.

"And dangerous when you factor in the other thing I wanted to tell you," Rowan leaned forward when Miguel looked intrigued, frowning. "He told me he had pressing matters that he now had the power to deal with, and had plans for Kane."

"Neither sound muy bueno," Miguel commented.

"Exactly, and it's been bothering me for the whole week, Miguel. I think Kane may be in serious danger now," Rowan admitted, fear crossing over her face.

"It certainly sounds as such," Miguel agreed, setting his tea cup down again. "Am I to presume, cuñada, that this is where I come into play?"

"Yep," Rowan pointed to the sorcerer. "I need to know what he's planning, so I need you to find out what he's up to. Can you do it?"

"I can try, cuñada, but I make no promesas," Miguel proclaimed after a moment of thought.

"The best you can do is the best you can do," she agreed, "however I need something else as well. I need you to warn Kane."

"Are you unable due to Talon's magics?" Miguel asked, confused by the request. Why would he need to warn Kane if she could do so herself?

"No. Kane just won't listen to a word I say when I start to bring any mention of him caring about Talon to a conversation," Rowan shrugged and sighed with frustration. "Which means you will also need to refrain from telling him I sent you, understand?"

"But of course," Miguel stood up, holding out a hand to help Rowan from the sofa. "Now, if our business is concluded, I will get right to the quest you have given."

"Thanks, Miguel," Rowan satisfied his inner gentleman and let him help her up from the couch and lead her to the door.

"It was my pleasure," he told her, holding the door open for her. "I shall do only my best for la familia, cuñada."

"Consider this my thanks for having you as a brother-in-law, then," Rowan said softly, taking the sorcerer into a strong hug. Miguel accepted the hug on etiquette alone, hating how stone cold the necromancer felt. It just wasn't natural. But he was pleased she was accepting him as a brother-in-law. "Tell Tasha I send my love."

* * *

As Miguel promised, he visited Talon to see what he could find out about the pyromancer's plans for Kane. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, however, when the first thing to greet him upon passing through the Spiral Door was fire.

Miguel had been told about the vine-wall that blocked the cobble path, but he was pretty sure that wall existed no longer. Now, there was fire where the vines should have been. Not only that, but the earthen wall surrounding the sanctuary was now capped by a towering inferno, which blended into the firewall before him to make a continuous ring of searing flames, blocking all view of what lay within the sanctuary.

It also effectively blocked passage to anyone not a pyromancer. But Miguel was not a normal wizard; he was a sorcerer. So while not a pyromancer, he had been taught to access that inner flame, and looked inwardly towards it, closing his brown eyes to concentrate. Without opening them, he proceeded to carefully etch with his hands a Balance symbol with glimmering pale orange light.

The Spectral Blast spell was a risky spell when one sought a specific element, as it did not always take requests. However, Miguel had found that if he concentrated hard enough, focusing strongly on one specific element, he tended to get it from the spell. It wasn't a technique he could really use in battle, but it came in handy here as he completed the symbol. It flashed and his hands quickly came together to capture that white hot orb of magic. Three new orbs formed just above and behind him, igniting into spheres of fire.

Opening his eyes, Miguel firmly thrust his hands forward, expelling the orb of light. It shot into the wall of flame, swiftly followed by the flaming spheres that whooshed past him, one singeing the feather of his musketeer hat. All four collided just before the infernal wall, and burst into a gout of flame. From the other side of the wall, a plume of fire rushed forth, expanding several yards before dissipating.

Miguel straightened himself, removing his cap to inspect the feather. He was merely waiting, of course, and as he anticipated the wall parted a minute later, a black-clad wizard standing where it had been.

"Hello Spellblade," Talon smirked, amused at the method by which the sorcerer had signaled his presence. "Nice blast, by the way."

"Gracias, I've been practicing, señor Skullflame," since they were now, apparently in Talon's eyes, on a last name basis, Miguel might as well return the favor. "Figured it may get your attention, which seems very difícil, of late," Miguel commented.

"And you want my attention _because…_" Talon began, sounding irritated. Miguel found this most unsettling. He had heard such phrasing many a time, from a mouth very unlike Talon Skullflame's; a mouth that was next on his list to talk to.

"Because I am worried you may do something muy mal, amigo, to señor Darksword," Miguel told him, putting one hand on the hilt of his saber. He had brought the weapon as a safety, and it looked like it could be necessary. The mere mention of Kane put a fierce fire in the pyromancer's eyes.

"Rowan sent you to find out my plans for him, didn't she?" Talon asked smoothly, then rose a hand before Miguel could speak to stop him. "Don't try to cover for her, sorcerer. It is only natural for her to fake caring for his safety, and she would of course seek you, the wise and always neutral Miguel Spellblade, to find out what I seek from Kane. If you must know, I intend to take from him what I deserve," Talon explained.

"And what do you deserve, Talon?" Miguel asked, perplexed by this. He was not aware that Kane had taken anything –besides Rowan- from Talon. Then again, he could be mistaken; they knew each other at least a year before Miguel arrived at Ravenwood.

"Everything he has," Talon said softly, his head lowering to obscure his face under his hood once more. "But don't worry, I won't take his life. That will be his choice." The last statement was ended with a rather unpleasant sounding chuckle, before Talon stepped back and the wall of flames caved in to replace him.

Miguel stood there aghast at what he had just heard, holding his hat tightly. Talon wouldn't truly… but he had certainly made it sound like he would. With a grim face, Miguel bowed to the wall of flames, replacing his hat upon his black hair and turning to the door.

"If that is the way it will be, then very well," Miguel said softly, looking over his shoulder. "Diviértete en el infierno," he said before opening the door and walking out.


	7. The Duel

**The Duel**

Kane had a violent past, and it most definitely manifested itself in an overall violent personality. Despite being such a studious wizard, top of his class every year and favorite of Professor Cyrus Drake, he was at his core a visceral being, getting a thrill from fighting that rivaled the joy of discovery and understanding. Despite being such an intelligent man, he would prefer to plant his fist square in an opponent's jaw rather than deal with a dynamic and complex interrogation. If running you through would solve his problems sufficiently, he would give it a thought. Growing up in Mooshu during a period of horrible war would do that to you.

Ever since he was ten years old, and first heard the news of his father's death on the field of battle, Kane had strove to be the best warrior he could. He knew, with Mooshu's rarely peaceful history, it was only a matter of time before he would be called to serve the Emperor. Kane had wanted to make sure that when that time came, he would be ready, unlike his father.

His father had never been a warrior; he had merely been conscripted into the battle like other peasants. He was a rice farmer by trade, no one special, and only the members of Kane's farming community mourned his passing. Kane did not want such a fate. To die in battle was viewed by some in Mooshu as a great honor; Kane considered it the great horror. He couldn't allow himself to die like that; he wanted to die peacefully, calmly, in his sleep if possible.

When his father died, Kane's older brother inherited the family farm, and his mother became almost paranoid-level clingy to her youngest son, who would be the next to be taken when war struck. Kane hated those (thankfully few) years of his life, as he suddenly was unable to work the fields or even wander the market without his mother coddling him every step of the way. It took some convincing, but he got his brother to talk to the local noble who ruled over their lands; a man whom had recently married Kane's elder sister at that time. The noble was able to secure the rice-farmer's son a place in a dojo for training, and he was sent off to school at the -faked to combat his mother's clinginess- insistence of his elder brother.

He hadn't stayed in the dojo for more than a few years, however, before it was discovered that Kane had a magic the dojo could not help him master. He had summoned a troll accidentally while defending the dojo from bandits, and lost control. Many were injured, but the Samoorai were able to defeat it. It was decided, however, for the safety of the dojo and betterment of his own education, to send Kane to Ravenwood.

The lessons he had learned in the dojo had stuck, however, and so it was that, like now, he spent each morning he could practicing the arts of the armaments, honing his skills with sword and spear, naginata and axe. The chosen room of his villa for this morning ritual was the room directly behind his entry hall, connected by two short bridges. It was a large room, but the right side was dominated by a circular hole through which a stream of water fell from the scales of the Judgment statue above, which Kane liked to use to wash himself off after practice. Behind the circular hole was a large alcove with windows, big enough for a large wooden lectern and two torches. It was on this lectern that he kept the instructional texts on various weapon techniques. A couple of weapon racks held his armory of considerable size, and his practice floor was covered in sewn together tatami mats.

Kane was barefoot on the tatami mats right now, his athletic body clad only in dark blue breeches and wielding a gleaming naginata. His hands were wrapped in dusted cloth for grip, and he spun about the floor elegantly, smacking the shaft against one mannequin, and then spinning to slice the bladed head into the other. His straight blond hair was freely flowing about as he moved, only a few sweat soaked strands stuck to his head. He was getting quite into it, not noticing Miguel's entry until he thrust the naginata forward with a yell, piercing a mannequin through its sandy heart.

"Well done," Miguel commented, clapping softly. "Muy bueno."

Kane turned his head, violet eyes regarding Miguel for a moment. Then he pulled the naginata from the mannequin, sand spilling onto the floor. He let the butt of the weapon rest by his feet, inspecting the blade briefly.

"I presume you're here for a reason?" It was Kane's nearly traditional greeting. He turned to a weapon rack and placed the naginata upon it.

"Yes, I am," Miguel began.

"If it concerns Talon, I am not interested," Kane replied as he walked past Miguel to splash himself with water. Miguel sulked and sighed.

"It is about Talon, but I am not here to tell you that you ought to be worried or care or apologize, amigo," Miguel told him, "you have enough people bothering you about that."

"Still don't care," Kane declared plainly, continuing to splash his face and hair with water. Miguel stood there, arms folded, waiting, as Kane proceeded to make a big chore of cooling himself off. It wasn't long though before it was becoming obvious Miguel wasn't leaving.

"Alright," Kane said, turning away from the falling water to face his friend. "Since you insist it is different, let's _make_ it different. You, me, sparring match. You can talk while we spar."

"You're on," Miguel grinned, unbuttoning his Marleybonian suit jacket. Removing it as Kane moved to his weapons racks, Miguel hung the jacket on a coat hook on the wall, followed by his shirt. With a flourish, he then removed his musketeer cap and rested it on the hook atop both. When he turned around a wooden dagger was gliding towards him, and he caught it with ease. It was followed by a wooden replica of a saber. He placed his own saber on the ground beneath his clothes.

They often sparred together, at either Miguel's house or Kane's, so they both had a few wooden weapons to choose from at either location. But Miguel generally preferred his saber, occasionally paring it with an offhand weapon for variety. Today, however, he tossed the knife back, choosing to leave his offhand unarmed.

"Very well," Kane conceded, picking up a thick wooden sword from his armory.

"The longsword today, an intriguing choice. Bored of the naginata, amigo?" Miguel commented, spreading his feet in his typical fencing stance, right ahead of left with knees bent, his left arm relaxing behind as he pointed the saber at Kane.

"Nope, just feel that all this peace time has made me rusty. Want to keep at the top of my game with my sword-wand," Kane responded, moving to the other end of the mat, Miguel's sword following him on his path. Kane spread his own legs in a balanced stance, holding the sword with one hand on the hilt and wrapping the other around the pommel. He held it before him in an openly offensive posture.

"You would do well to be en guardia, amigo," Miguel declared as he advanced towards the conjurer, saber moving to beat his opponent's weapon aside. Kane anticipated the opening move and lowered his sword beneath the beat, sweeping it around to the other side of Miguel and striking. Miguel swiftly brought his saber across to parry the strike, retreating as he did so. Kane forced the power of his cut into a twist that sent both swords towards the ground, forcing Miguel to retreat further to avoid the following thrust.

"And why is that, Miguel?" Kane asked as they began to circle each other, looking for an opening. "Does Talon want to hurt me, or something?"

"Sí," Miguel replied before advancing and lunging swiftly, forcing Kane to block the incoming strike to his head by raising his blade. It was a faint, however, and Miguel rerouted his sword with a quick twist of the wrist, striking the side of Kane's torso. Kane responded with a side slash in return, but Miguel had already beaten a hasty retreat. "And that is one-zero in favor of saber."

"And you are worried for my safety? Why?" Kane inquired, looking annoyed at Miguel's strike. "This is Talon, after all. It's not like I can't," Kane stopped to suddenly lunge at Miguel, swinging for the sorcerer's left. However, as he went to parry the strike, he found Kane had spun the blade up and around to strike his other side, landing a hardy hit on his back. Miguel retreated as Kane followed through on his last strike, swinging for the left again. Miguel parried and gave a reposte that landed on Kane's right shoulder, but Kane swept his sword into Miguel's thigh in response to the parry. Both men retreated and proceeded to circle again. "Handle him," Kane finished, setting the point of his wooden blade towards Miguel.

"Two-for-two, we are even," Miguel stated, grinning as he did. It was often that they compared the efficiency of some weapons over others, and it was often that Miguel's saber style won out. There were some of Kane's weapon styles, however, that he found difficult. His longsword technique was one of them. "But you should be cautious, amigo. Talon is not what we thought," Miguel said as he moved to strike, and they began a string of parries that ended in neither landing a hit.

"What do you mean?" Kane asked, thrusting at Miguel. He responded with a parry and reposte towards Kane's head, but the conjurer suddenly let go of his sword pommel and ducked under the strike, grabbing Miguel's wrist and bringing his pommel up to strike at Miguel's chin. Miguel quickly spun around Kane, twisting his wrist out of his opponent's grasp. Kane ducked in time to avoid the slash that followed and both retreated to circle again.

"He has grown unusually strong in his pyromancy, señor, since we have last seen him," Miguel explained as they locked swords. "He wields fire now like an extension of himself. And I fear his intentions towards you may be muy mal," he added, just before landing a good hit on Kane's left arm. "Three-two, favor to saber."

"Yeah, but he can't be that much of a threat, can…" Kane stopped and looked over Miguel's shoulder, sentence trailing off. "What the hell?"

"Qué," Miguel turned to see what had stunned Kane, and didn't grasp it until… "Where is your agua, amigo?"

"That's what I want to know," Kane growled, just as Brutus, his pet blood bat, began screeching. Brutus liked to hang around the cavern, and made an excellent alarm system as he could hear just about anyone entering Kane's property. And his screeching meant someone was here. Both Miguel and Kane rushed through the villa towards the rocky slope that led up to the surface, neither dropping their swords nor bothering to dress further.

What they found on the surface did answer the question of where the water went, as Kane's oasis was completely evaporated. The burning palm trees helped answer the question of how the oasis evaporated, but the question of how the palm trees caught fire was still unanswered.

"Where are you, Talon?" Kane roared, looking around.

"You sure the firebush did not explode?" Miguel asked, also looking for the pyromancer.

"Positive," Kane growled, brandishing the wooden sword like it would actually be effective. "Brutus wouldn't have made such a racket otherwise."

"How very observant of you, Kane," Talon's voice proclaimed as a ball of fire dropped from one of the palm trees, taking on a human shape before flickering away to reveal the wizard. "You always were the smart one," he sneered.

"What the hell are you doing, Talon?" Kane shouted at the pyromancer, brandishing his sword without thought. "You can't just walk in here and burn things!"

"Oh, but I can, and I have," Talon taunted.

"Why?" Miguel inquired.

"To get Kane's attention, of course," Talon responded calmly, "and to make a statement."

"And that statement would be what, that you can burn things? Never would have guessed!" Kane jeered, stepping towards the pyromancer.

"No," Talon didn't show any sign of annoyance at Kane's antics. "Rather, that I intend to make good on my threat, Kane Darksword."

"What threat, fool? You haven't made one," Kane snapped, advancing closer. Talon remained stationary. Miguel's face grew increasingly worried.

"This threat; I challenge you, Kane Darksword, to a duel. You are to meet me this evening at my sanctuary for the duel, and you are to show up _alone_," Talon demanded, looking Kane square in the eye.

"Still not seeing the threat, Talon," Kane jabbed, "I could just as easily refuse and duel you now, instead. Right here. Unless you're too chicken," Kane sneered as his right arm began to glow a dark golden color, Myth magic coursing over his muscles.

"But you won't," Talon shot back, and Kane found his increasingly unflinching manner irritating. He wasn't even batting an eye at the prospect of Kane fighting him now. "Because if you don't accept these terms, Darksword, your library will burn."

"You wouldn't dare…" Kane hissed, narrowing his eyes at the pyromancer. Talon sighed, and snapped the fingers of his left hand, flame crackling to life over the staff in his right. The tongues of fire crawled up the staff to gather in a fireball around the dragon crown, before Talon thrust the staff upwards towards a tent. The tent in question was pitched on a cliff that overlooked the valley of sand, with a wooden platform and ladder leading up to it. It was Kane's primary research tent for his excavation of the site, and it ignited like dried forest tinder the instant the fireball collided. Kane watched in horrified rage as his work was reduced to cinders.

"So many years, so much research…" Talon crooned wickedly, "now floating away in the breeze, forever lost…" He sounded like he was in a trance.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU MOTHER FU-" Kane raised the wooden longsword over his head, charging as he bellowed his rage. He was halted by Miguel, who was shouting for him to stop as he tackled the conjurer to the sand.

"Be at my sanctuary when dusk approaches, Kane Darksword, or your library is next," Talon looked thoroughly amused by the sight of a raging Kane trying to wrestle Miguel off, mere feet from him. With a deep chuckle, the pyromancer became wreathed in flames that quickly engulfed him. The fire shrank as quickly as it appeared, leaving nothing behind.

Shortly after Talon teleported away, Kane slammed his elbow into Miguel's nose, sending the sorcerer reeling so he could roll free and get to his feet. He looked furiously up at the still burning remains of his work tent, and then at Miguel, who now sported a nose bleed.

"You let him go, you let that bast-"

"You wouldn't have stood a chance!" Miguel flared back as he held one hand to his bleeding nose. For the first time Kane could recall, Miguel actually looked ticked off. Miguel was usually the cool, calm, collected one of the three boys, never getting more than frustrated or annoyed by their fighting. Apparently, breaking his nose also broke his chill mood.

"I could kick that boy's ass up and down the Spiral, butt naked with a hand behind my back!" Kane snarled, fighting back the urge to strike Miguel again. "But you let him go!"

"You are in no condition to fight him, Kane, and you know it," Miguel shot back, his voice leveling again. "You need to prepare. He's gotten way stronger than he used to be, and far more desviado. You have to prepare for that," Miguel told him, turning back towards the slope that led to the underground villa. "And prepare your temper to deal with him, también," He added.

"You are not coming with me," Kane stated firmly, following Miguel underground.

"I have no intention of doing so now, amigo. Not when I have to explain to mi amor why her esposo has a bleeding nose," Miguel narrowed his eyes at Kane as he said this, redressing himself for the return home.

"Good. You deserved it anyways," Kane remarked, "holding me back. No one holds me back. **Ever**," He added.

"First time for everything," Miguel muttered, strapping his saber to his waist before bowing to Kane. "Buenaventura, mi amigo," He then turned and walked out of the villa, only bursting into a ball of orange light when he was outside.

"Don't need it," Kane remarked to thin air when he was sure Miguel was gone. He began unwrapping his hands slowly, thinking about Talon. He knew just how to handle the upstart, overeager wizard.

Bring him down a notch.

* * *

Kane arrived at the prescribed time, as the sun was turning orange and the sky became tinted with the shades of dusk. He walked through the Spiral Door with confidence, and that confidence was not disturbed by the towering wall of flame that blocked his path beyond the door.

He had no reason to fear it, either, since it parted at his approach like a curtain parting for the wind to pass. He walked on, uncaring that the fiery curtain shut itself behind him, sealing him inside. From beneath his dark blue, gold trimmed hood, he surveyed the area.

There wasn't much to survey, of course, as like Rowan had said, everything had been turned to ash. However, unlike Rowan's last visit, a few _minor_ changes had occurred. For one, every single statue of the mighty beasts of magic had been reduced to malformed, molten slag. From his position at the front of the sanctuary, he could see a Firecat and Unicorn statue at the entrance to the central tree, a Triton overlooking what was once a waterfall cascading into a pond on his right, and a Colossus standing before what was once a fountain on his left. Also on his right, standing in what was once a forest, was the statue of a Wraith.

And all of them bore the scorch marks of fiery bombardment, suggesting that, at one point, Talon had vented his anger upon the sculptures, causing them to melt.

Another change Kane noticed was the heat. While not unbearable, it felt like the sun had been upon his back all day while working in his desert valley. He was already sweating and he had barely been here a minute.

The source of the high temperature was the massive tree at the center of the sanctuary, which normally would not give off much heat. However, the tree was no longer a towering proud wooden behemoth. Now, thick coils of fire spiraled upwards from the base of the tree, dividing when reaching a branch to create new spiraling strands to wrap each individual branch in a loving embrace of searing flame. The leaves had long ago burned away, being replaced by tongues of fire that licked towards the sky incessantly. It reminded Kane of that tree outside the Fire school, but on a hell of a lot larger scale. He couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by the infernal tree. It was massive and hot, and spoke volumes of the sudden strength of Talon's pyromancy.

_I may have underestimated him_, he briefly thought, before one hand went to the amulet around his neck. It was enchanted with a Fire Shield, and a refreshing one, even. Sure, the shield could fail, but when it did there would be a restorative period, and then the amulet's shielding would renew. So long as he could keep himself unscathed until the shield renewed, it shouldn't be a problem.

He hoped.

There was movement at the base of the tree, and Kane could just make out a door opening through the veil of fire. Talon stepped through the flames like they were a beaded curtain, brushing them aside with a lazy gesture. He was still wearing his newly favored black raven robes and concealing hood, and in his right hand was Soulbrand, the dragon-staff he had taken a liking to since his… transformation.

Just by looking at them now, one would surmise Kane to be the winner on appearance alone. Whereas Talon had come to this duel in his extravagant, avian robes, Kane took a different approach. He came to the battle decked out in paladin plate armor, golden crosses gleaming off his pauldrons in the firelight. He wore a blue tunic over the chainmail and a blue cloak bellowed behind him, both bearing gold crosses and trim.

He looked even more the knight when he drew his weapon, a longsword with a broad blade and a wicked black hilt that sported golden teeth at the cross-guard and a bright purple gem for a pommel. At the hilt just above Kane's hand, on either side, were large diamond shaped violet crystals embedded in the blade, dark energy shining within them. As he positioned the sword between himself and Talon, it began to coruscate with a dark magic. It had once held a different enchantment, but Kane had replaced the original enchantment with one of his own, and the blade was now shimmering with shadowy Death magic.

"I was beginning to think you _actually_ wouldn't come," Talon began, chuckling, as fire slowly worked its way up his staff.

"You will **pay** for what you did, Talon," Kane spat, preparing himself for the magical battle that was about to erupt.

"NO!" Talon suddenly burst out, his whole body now covered in fire that had no origin. He glared at Kane with such malice it made the conjurer inadvertently think of someone else; someone they had fought to destroy long ago. Slamming the butt of his staff on the ground, he suddenly spun it over his head before thrusting it towards Kane. "It is you who will pay!"


	8. Locked in Fiery Combat

**_Author's Note:_**_And so the battle begins. The next few chapters will be divided not by time frame, but by the major event that defines the chapter and or themes, as is typical for chapters. In fact, I am thinking of doing away with the whole time-line chapter titles. They were quite lame. _**  
**

_Anyways, do tell me what you think of this battle writing style compared to the Adventurum, as the battle wears on. I made a few little changes to how I write wizard duels with this story and I would like to hear what my readers think of it.  
_

**Locked in Fiery Combat**

Alia had… needs. Needs that needed to be met rather often; sometimes more often than was convenient, even. There were many reasons for these needs, of course. But right now, what she really needed was stress relief. And for that, she wanted Kane's help.

This was just the way the pair worked; she couldn't really view themselves as a couple, much as she would like to, because they weren't. Instead they played a sort of dance, drifting between people but always migrating, somehow, back to each other. Often they would dance with someone else, maybe even several others, but –be it a week or a month later- they always came back together. Alia partly blamed her own attempts at reining Kane in for this, but she was certain he was not putting forth the same effort. Sometimes he got romantic and Alia began to feel she had gotten some sway over him.

But then he'd run off and, say, dance with her _sister_ instead.

It wasn't that he'd gone to another woman that had bothered Alia, as they had been in this limbo for a few years now. Rather, it was the woman that bothered her. Sisters were supposed to respect each other, and not go after a man one of them pursued. But it was also the frequency that had annoyed Alia so; he should have been regularly choosing her, not Rowan. With Kane, regularity seemed to be the first sign of attachment.

Which meant tonight was a test as well, to see if Kane was still willing to frequently dance with Alia, or if Rowan had beaten the Diviner at her own game. But mainly, Alia just needed some stress relief.

She had been thinking hard on how to cure Talon of his blindness to the truth about Rowan, and it had agitated her all week. Her homework had become difficult to manage because her thoughts kept coming back to Talon. She was not having any luck though, and it was becoming so frustrating that she just needed a break from thinking.

When she stepped into the vast cavern that housed Kane's villa, it was silent as the grave. This was quite typical and didn't worry Alia. However, from her vantage point at the top of the slope, which winded down a cliff face to a wooden bridge below, she could see most of the uncovered structures of the villa, and saw no trace of Kane. That got her slightly worried.

_He could be against a wall right now_, she reasoned, heading down the path and crossing into Kane's entry hall. She began to undo her ponytail, letting her straight brown hair cascade down to her shoulder blades. Kane had always preferred her hair down.

Kane was nowhere to be found, though, no matter which room she looked in. He wasn't even in his bedroom. Alia frowned, coming up to the bed and looking at its one lone occupant. It was a spectral dragon, curled up nose-to-tail on Kane's pillow.

"Tyson?" Alia tried to get his attention by just saying his name, since poking wasn't going to work. The ghostly reptile remained unmoved.

"Tyson!" Alia shouted now, trying to wake him up. The dragon curled deeper into himself, letting off a snort of ethereal fire. Alia rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, "Alright, fine. _Lord_ Tyson," she called.

The dragon promptly raised his head, as if he had just woken up to his name, rather than being troublesome. There was a question in his gaze.

"Where is Kane?" Alia asked, motioning back to the empty villa. The dragon shrugged. "Alright. Well, that was helpful… Can you try to find him?"

Lord Tyson snorted again, curling up once more as if the conversation was now over. Alia frowned, but weighed in her mind the options. It was worth it.

"Please, o' mighty Lord Tyson," Alia began to beg, kneeling beside the bed to be eye level with the beast. "Could you please find Kane for me?" Lord Tyson looked at her for a moment, considering it. "I would be very grateful."

This seemed to somehow seal the deal for the dragon, as he nodded and slowly turned to mist. Alia rose to her feet and sighed, looking at the pillow. She wasn't sure she trusted the dragon, so decided to try herself. Alia teleported to the first place she felt Kane would be.

* * *

Rowan threw down her book when she heard several knocks on her front door. It wasn't usual for anyone to come to her mansion, especially these days. But it had never been frequent anyways, as her creaky old mansion home with its dark, damp corridors, bone chandelier and skull stair rails, tended to scare off most who would visit. Tasha had never once even come inside to see the place since Rowan moved in; the boys and Alia had done all the moving help.

However, whenever someone did visit, it always seemed to be at the most interrupting of moments. She had been enjoying that book and now she had to put it down. _But I can't let Henry answer the door, he'd finish what the house started,_ Rowan thought. Henry was her pet rat, but not just any rat. He was a finely dressed magical rat in a suit, complete with top hat, and he served as Rowan's butler. However, some folks tended to find that a rat answering the door was the last straw. Normally Rowan wouldn't care about someone visiting, but these days someone bothering to try to get to her house usually meant they had something to say she would probably need to hear. And having a little company now and again never hurt.

When Rowan opened the door, she found Alia standing on her porch, looking up with irritation at the shuddering porch roof. Rowan's house had gone into full scare-away mode and the porch columns were currently separated, creating fangs. From Rowan's view within the house it looked like she was inside a monster's throat.

"I'm not here to bother you about Talon, so will you please tell your stupid house to stop growling at me?" Alia folded her arms as the low, unmistakable rumble of Rowan's unhappy house made the building shudder. Rowan looked up as well.

"Very well," Rowan replied, placing a hand gently on the doorframe.

"Now, now, hush… she's being nice, so you be nice in return," Rowan whispered as she stroked the aged, warped wood of the doorframe, which was cold even to her frigid touch. She continued to soothingly whisper and stroke the door until the porch had settled down, the columns coming together again as the house calmed.

"Thank you," Alia sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I think your house is awesome, don't get me wrong, but it really creeps me out when it's angry."

"It creeps everyone out when angry," Rowan commented, leaning on the doorframe she was previously stroking and raising an eyebrow at her sister. "What are you wearing?"

"Oh…" Alia blushed and wrapped her arms around herself as she looked down. Rowan questioned Alia because she was wearing a very new and different dress. It was an emerald dress with an extremely low cut v-neck; so low it stopped at her navel, in fact. Dark purple lace was woven over her chest, pulling the two sides together. The dress left her shoulders bare and her ankles exposed, yet hugged the rest of her so tightly that it showed off her slim, athletic physique and small bosom almost as well as if it were never there. "Well, um, it was meant for Kane's eyes only but… that's why I'm here. Kane isn't at home so I thought I would try your place. Is he here?"

Rowan couldn't tell if Alia was hopeful the answer would be yes, or no. When she shook her head, though, Alia frowned.

"Did you check the surface excavation site for him?" Rowan asked.

"Yes, but he wasn't there either," Alia replied, shaking her head. "Where could he be? I was going to surprise him tonight."

A thought struck Rowan. It was a horrible, worst-case sort of thought, and it made Rowan's expression instantly grim.

"Was there anything different about his place, at all?" Rowan asked, praying to whatever deity gave a damn that the answer would not confirm her growing suspicion.

"Well, his dig tent, the one on the cliff," Alia waited for Rowan to nod understanding, "that tent was burned to the ground. I thought that was odd, but figured there had been an accident with the firebush or something."

"I don't think so," Rowan's voice lowered solemnly, "it just seems too unlikely."

"Well, then, what do you think?" Alia asked, growing frustrated quickly by her lack of a fun night.

"I think," Rowan answered, "that I know where he is. But you are not going to want to be in that, if I'm right." Alia looked confused. "Go home and change into your armor, Alia, and meet me at the Commons in thirty minutes. Then we'll see if I'm right," Rowan explained further, though Alia took a few moments before it dawned on her.

"Oh no, you don't think…"

"Yes, I do," Rowan nodded.

"I'll be there in fifteen," Alia declared, disappearing in a flash of crackling bolts that sent static through Rowan's hair.

* * *

Kane ducked to avoid a fireball before his Myth symbol burst forth in blue-gold sparks, sending a bloodbat straight at Talon. The pyromancer was knocked on the ground by the spell, but flipped back onto his feet swiftly. Kane straightened before spinning his sword in the air in front of him, another symbol forming. It was a Death spell, and when it chimed into glowing white light it released a small sprite, which hurled itself at Talon as its body shimmered a dark violet.

Talon smirked, amused at Kane's small-time spell antics. His left hand opened before him, fire licking at his fingers.

"You think these second-rate spells will really do something, Kane?" Talon jeered as a stream of fire suddenly blossomed from his hand, engulfing the dark sprite before it even got to him. "Come on! Where's the great Kane Darksword's power?"

"Why do you care how much effort I put into defeating you, Talon?" Kane sneered back, brandishing his sword before him. "You know it won't take much to accomplish so why keep begging for more?"

"Because it will take more, Kane! So, much, more!" Talon roared, a Fire symbol burning before him. It burst, and for a brief moment Kane wondered if he had fizzled out.

But then four streams of fire formed on the ground, coming together swiftly into an infernal explosion. Kane threw his arm up to protect his face, knowing what was coming. It wasn't long before he heard the squawk of the sunbird. Kane threw his arms forward and called upon the magic of his amulet to defend him as the bird swooped down and drenched him in flames.

When the fires died off, however, they dispersed around Kane, not on him, leaving the conjurer standing only mildly singed and surrounded by a ring of gently burning fire. Talon looked at the conjurer with mild amusement, not the surprise the wizard had expected.

"So, you found a way to stave off my flames, have you?" Talon smiled. Kane smirked back.

"Wasn't hard," Kane shrugged, flexing his shoulders.

"Except it won't work, Kane. You can't stop fire, you fool..." Talon gave a deep chuckle before leering at Kane from under his dark hood. "You can only hold it back, and only for so long."

"True, you do _seem_ to have acquired more power than I recall," Kane remarked sarcastically, charging at Talon suddenly with sword swinging. They briefly clashed, Talon blocking sword strikes with his staff, before they parted. Kane frowned; Talon had never handled his staff like that before. "And combat training, it seems."

"Learned from the best," Talon sneered, sending a stream of flame at Kane.

* * *

"Why are we at Miguel's?" Alia asked, knowing Rowan was thinking Kane was at Talon's. But Rowan had brought them here, to Miguel's Marleybonian mansion instead, which to Alia seemed like the last place in the Spiral that anyone would start a fight; mostly because Miguel wouldn't allow it. Since acquiring the mansion he had declared it a neutral zone, enforcing the rule that none of the six friends would be fighting here. Just like his dorm room was for the three boys, his mansion had become the grounds for civil discussions and working things through. You went to Kane's, or the Arena, if you wanted to fight.

"Because I told him to do something for me, and I am not sure he succeeded," Rowan answered, approaching the door and knocking hard.

"Buenas noches, Rowan, Alia," Miguel greeted the sisters as per his usual, though he seemed slightly nervous. "Can I help you?"

"Where's Kane?" Alia cut to the chase, not caring what Rowan was planning. She wanted to find Kane, and that was all.

"Qué?"

"Kane!" Rowan exclaimed, sounding irate. "He's not at his place, and his tent was burned to the ground, and –what happened to your nose?" Miguel's hand went reflexively to his still bruised and lightly bandaged nose, covering it.

"Sparing accident, that's all. You were saying?"

"I was saying... I am thinking the worst, and therefore I want to know if you succeeded in getting Kane to listen, or find out what Talon was planning," Rowan finished, looking over the nervous Miguel.

"Something wrong?"

"Perdonar mi cuñada," Miguel answered, "But I have found what Talon was planning…"

"And?" Alia folded her arms over her chainmail armor, getting impatient.

"And did not succeed at getting Kane to listen," Miguel lowered his head, "lo siento." Rowan's frown became grit teeth as she snapped and grabbed Miguel by the collar.

"Why aren't you there with him then, huh? Why aren't you helping him, _amigo_?" She had a firm grip on his collar, and Miguel looked just the tiniest bit terrified.

"Talon said he'd burn down Kane's library if he did not come alone, cuñada, there was nothing I could do," Miguel explained, shrugging apologetically.

"Like hell there was!" Alia shouted, but Miguel held up a hand.

"I am currently monitoring their battle with a crystal ball, however," Miguel declared, trying to regain face. "So far it has been like any wizard duel," Miguel explained, "and I intend to step in if things get out of hand."

"Miguel, I'm sorry, but you're an idiot," Rowan sighed, smacking her head with her palm. "With the way Talon has been acting, you know damn well it will get out of hand." She looked over his shoulder. "Where's Tasha?"

"Out shopping with the ladies. Why?" He answered, looking thoroughly confused. Rowan's shoulders dropped.

"Looks like it's me and you, Alia," she said, and Alia nodded. The sisters grabbed each other's hands before teleporting off of Miguel's front stoop. Miguel quickly shut the door and headed upstairs, rushing to the center of a long dining table where a crystal ball sat, glowing with inner fire. That was because most of the image within the ball was fire from Talon's residence, but Miguel could make out everything else.

"I may have to step in very soon…" He murmured aloud, deciding he needed to get his gear ready and heading off to prepare.

* * *

The Cyclops roared, slamming his hefty stone hammer onto the ash-covered ground. While the initial impact had been nowhere near Talon, it sent shockwaves that cracked the earth, speeding towards him in a cloud of ash, dust, and rock.

A golden orb that had been floating around Talon flared to life, covering him in a shimmering bubble. While the Myth shield saved him from the brunt of the damage, it failed to stop the shockwave from sending Talon rolling on the ground.

The pyromancer got to his feet quickly, Fire symbol smoking before him. When it burst forth, however, a bellowing flame did not follow. Rather, a bright green ball of light shot straight at Kane, punching through his stomach and making Kane stagger back. The orb did not disappear, but began to swirl around and in between the wizards, as if caught in a whirlpool. When it finally disappeared, Kane's body ignited, while Talon became bathed in a pale green aura.

"What spell is this?" Kane snarled, feeling heat course through his body unpleasantly. His amulet was holding the flames back, but this felt more like a lingering fire than the other spells. Kane knew it was only a matter of time before it eroded his shield and left him defenseless.

"I have linked us, Kane, with a spell that combines the might of Fire with the soothing power of Life," Talon explained, smiling broadly. "Think of it as similar to your Death spells… only it burns the flesh, not the soul." Talon chuckled, tapping his staff on the ground as he watched Kane slowly begin to burn. "You've seen me use it many times, Kane, but this is the first time you've been on the receiving end, isn't it? Tell me, how does it feel?" There was an unnervingly sadistic undertone to Talon's inquiry, and Kane refused to give him the pleasure of an answer. Getting to his feet, Kane grit his teeth as he felt the heat increase; his shield was waning.

"Talon, stop this duel now!" Rowan shouted over the roar of flames, which had begun to burn the charcoaled remains of the trees now. Their battle had sent fire everywhere, and most of the sanctuary was now smoldering or actively burning, illuminating the night with firelight. Talon turned to the newcomer, an amused look in his eyes that did not match his serious expression. But then he burst into a cordial smile.

"Ah Rowan… You've come sooner than I expected," Talon remarked, bowing slightly.

"Talon, stop it! This duel is unnecessary!" Rowan cried out, staying away from the flames.

"What will you do if I disagree? Try to stop me?" Talon moved towards the two girls, leaving his back to Kane, who started to cry out in pain. "Oh… seems his shield just died. What a shame…" Talon tsk-tsked and shook his head, holding his left hand behind him in a mockingly gentlemanly manner.

"If necessary, then yes," Alia answered, pulling out a longsword. It sported a gold crescent moon guard with points heading for the blade, and an amethyst in the hilt. The entire blade gleamed violet and sparked randomly.

"It certainly seems like you came prepared, Alia," Talon agreed, looking her over. She was wearing a military cap of deep black, and was clad in a black and gold chainmail armor similar to Kane's but more knight-like than paladin. "But you, Rowan, you look ready for class, not a duel against me," Talon commented, shaking his head.

As egotistical as the statement was, Talon did have a point. Rowan was wearing a simple black student robe with red trim, and had let her black hair go freely. The only indication she was ready for battle was the staff she carried, which was the grisly Terminus, a staff made of bone with a crown made from a ribcage and a skull.

"The robes don't make the wizard, Talon," Rowan shot back with a leveled tone, but Talon just grinned.

"Well, I hope they protect you from _this_," As they had been speaking Talon had been etching a Life symbol behind his back, a slower process than the usual manner. Now he whipped that hand forward, revealing and activating the magical glyph, which bloomed into emerald light. The light washed over Rowan, condensing into several small sparkles of green.

Alia rushed Talon with sword raised when the spell was revealed, crying out her anger at her sister being attacked. She brought the sword down in a powerful chop, but was not expecting Talon to casually side-step her strike. She also hadn't expected him to grab his staff in both hands and take a swing at her with it. She quickly brought her sword up to block the strike, sparks flying. But she wasn't able to block the next attack in time, as Talon slammed the other end of his staff into her head.

Alia collapsed to the ground, sword clattering in a shower of sparks. Talon had little time to relish the victory though as a dark cloud slammed into him and he staggered back. Rowan kept her staff pointed at Talon, the skull's jaw agape, ready to cast another spell.

"Please, Talon… Enough," Rowan pleaded.

"But I've only just begun," Talon remarked coolly, tracing a Life symbol in the air with one hand. He waved his hand through it when completed, and it burst into musical notes and green light. From the light emerged a tinny green-skinned imp holding a golden fiddle, who cackled at Rowan before beginning to play.

Rowan ignored the imp and began her own Death spell, but it fizzled when the imp's magical music reached the sparkling light that enveloped her. It was a Life trap, and it instantly reacted to the music, setting off a chain reaction of small explosions around her. Rowan stumbled backwards with each emerald flash, finally falling to one knee, disoriented. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she rose to her feet, only to realize the ground beneath her was glowing.

Looking down, Rowan discovered the source was a glowing symbol beneath her; it was a spell circle, an old form of magic. The magical etching of airborne symbols rendered this method of casting now obsolete, but it still had some uses, as Talon had somehow found out. Rowan cursed under her breath, pointing Terminus at Talon and ejecting a cloud of shadow at the pyromancer.

It never reached the target, however, as the shadowy orb hit an invisible barrier and instead spread around her, cloaking her in darkness. Rowan raised her hand and it began to glow a pale blue, before she swept it forward and sprayed frosty air all around her. It cleared up the air, and she could see Talon through a thin layer of ice. She clenched her fist; the ice shattered.

"What is this, Talon?"

"A trap, Rowan, made especially for you," Talon answered, calmly walking forward until he was just outside of her containment barrier. "So you can watch, helplessly, as I reveal just how pathetic and weak your boyfriend is," Talon chuckled, but his moment of sadistic pleasure was cut short by a troll's battle cry. Talon swiveled just in time to see the thrown club coming at him, striking him squarely in the chest and sending the surprised pyromancer flying several feet onto his back.

Kane leaned on his sword, his body still shrouded in tongues of flame. His violet eyes glared through the shroud at Talon as the pyromancer rose with a groan. Slowly, the flames dissipated, leaving a lightly scorched conjurer behind.

"I guess we're still considering you her boyfriend, then?" Kane remarked with a grunt.


	9. Love and Jealousy Can Burn the Soul

**Love and Jealousy Can Burn the Soul**

"Can you get out of there, Rowan?" Kane said after dodging another fireball from his opponent.

"No. It's sealed in all my magic," Rowan answered, watching the battle helplessly. "I can't even help you."

"Alright," Kane responded as he drew a Death symbol and a ghoul rose from the earth to attack Talon. "Just focus on keeping yourself safe, then." Inhaling deeply as the ghoul filled him with some of Talon's stolen vitality, Kane began to trace a Myth symbol in the air. It bloomed with golden light, surrounding Kane in a yellow aura.

"Safe from what, exactly?" Rowan asked, watching Kane sprint away to avoid another fire blast. "It's not like he's going to view me as a threat, now."

Rowan was right; she wasn't much of a threat to Talon trapped in there. But Kane had a feeling that -based on previous evidence of Talon's newfound deviousness- he devised that trap for a reason other than nullifying Rowan's power. Kane rolled to avoid an arrow from a fire elf, only to have another arrow catch him in the arm. It went clean through him like it wasn't real, but he knew he was hit because his blood immediately felt like it was boiling. He cringed, falling to one knee and concentrating hard on the Myth symbol he was etching. When it was completed, he punched his fist through it.

Crying out in an archaic language, Kane called upon the legends of the ancients for aid. Before him a dark cloud began to swirl, gathering together to form a towering Cyclops. It narrowed its eye at Talon before swinging a stone hammer down on him. Talon rolled to avoid it, getting to his feet to send a firecat at the beast.

The Cyclops minion batted the feline aside like it was a minor pest, and took another swing at Talon. The shockwave of the impact knocked Talon onto the ground, but the pyromancer wasted no time in drawing another Fire symbol. As it formed the Cyclops raised the hammer, aiming to turn Talon into a splatter on the ground.

"Don't kill him, Kane!" Rowan shouted from her bubble, beating her fist against the barrier. It forced her back. Talon may have been acting terrible, but that didn't mean he deserved to die.

Talon had no plans on going down easy, though, and when the Fire symbol was completed it burst, but not into a ball of flame. Rather, the symbol exploded into a thick black cloud, which hung in the air for only a moment before rapidly expanding, covering the battlefield.

"Worry about him killing me, dammit!" Kane called out from the smog. Rowan couldn't see anything or anyone, but she heard the hammer hit the ground, and hoped the worst did not happen.

For what seemed like minutes, there was silence, until Rowan heard coughing nearby. Alia slowly rose onto her knees, coughing hard and trying to wave the air around her clear.

"Alia, are you alright?" Rowan called out.

"Yeah, but my head hurts," she responded. "Why is there so much smoke?" She took her cape and covered her mouth with it. Then she searched around, finding her sword and picking it up.

"Talon used a smokescreen spell, I think," Rowan answered. "And I'm stuck in a bubble that prevents my magic from getting out, a kind of reverse shield. So you and Kane are on your own," she explained.

"Thanks for the recap," Alia shook her head and flexed her arms, readying herself. "Now to get back into the fray."

* * *

Kane held his sword at the ready, alert for any sounds of movement around him. His Cyclops was beside him, holding the head of its hammer in one hand. They couldn't see anything through the dense smoke; there was no way they could possibly accurately cast a spell at Talon.

"What's gotten into you, Talon?" Kane shouted through the cloth of his cape, which he held bunched up over his mouth so he could breathe.

"What do you mean?" Talon replied. It sounded like he was behind Kane, but when the conjurer turned around he could see nothing.

"I mean everything: the library threat, the firebush, the burning note, the solitude, this battle," Kane rattled off, keeping his voice raised so it at least sounded normal through the cloth. "You've been acting more like me lately, and I find it honestly annoying," he continued. "So what's the deal? You trying to prove you're as good as me so Rowan will take you back?"

"No," the reply was candid, concise. And it sounded eerily close. Kane whipped to his left, shooting off a stream of Death magic from his sword, but he hit nothing. "Instead, I am _proving_, right now, that I am better than you," Talon continued, and his voice began to sound like it was coming from everywhere. "I am done hiding in your shadow, Darksword. I am tired of being outdone by the nobody son of a rice-farmer!"

A large ball of fire shot through the smog, hitting the Cyclops in the chest. The giant staggered back but shook it off, launching a bloodbat in return. The bat flew off in the direction of the shot, but after only a few sputters of chirps, they heard a small explosion.

"Gotcha," Kane wove his own Myth symbol in the air, but it fizzled before he could finish it.

"What the hell are you on about, Talon?" Kane shouted, annoyed by his spell's failure.

"Have you failed to notice, oh great one, how loved and honored you are, while my greatness is ignored?" Talon shouted back, this time sounding like he was somewhere else. Kane was growing quickly tired of this act.

"Please, regale me with your sorrowful tale," Kane retorted, moving slowly through the smog. If he could keep Talon talking long enough, the smog could clear on its own, or he could pinpoint the pyromancer. He tried to concentrate hard on sensing magical traces, searching for the magic Talon was using to manipulate his voice. But the fire elf strike still had his blood burning, and that made it hard to think clearly.

"Shall we begin with the most recent, then?" Talon responded from Kane's right. "If you even remember Wysteria at all, of course," Kane moved towards the sound of his voice, but it shifted again. "It was **I** who defeated Lord Bramble, reclaiming the Spiral Cup. But did I get any recognition for my deed? A picture on a wall? No, all I got was a thanks, then we went straight to the tournament again, and the grand celebration of, guess what, your victory! You were held in the limelight for winning a trophy, while I was **ignored** for saving Wysteria!"

Kane and his Cyclops minion continued to slowly make their way through the smog, but they weren't getting far. Talon's voice was leading them in circles.

"Not my fault they had their priorities seriously mixed up," Kane declared.

"And then there was Mooshu," Talon continued, ignoring Kane's comment. "It was my plan that brought down the War Oni!"

"But I delivered the final blow, Talon," Kane interrupted, turning to the left again. "In Mooshu, the final blow matters most."

"If it wasn't for me, you would have died!" Talon roared, his voice filling the air almost as densely as the smoke. "The War Oni would have slaughtered you! But you just stood there and soaked up all the glory like a sponge!"

"That's it!" Alia's voice suddenly cut through everything, coming from somewhere behind Kane. "I have had enough of this!" The unmistakable static of a Storm spell followed, shortly followed by a flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder. Kane's Cyclops shuddered, fearing the Storm magic to come.

"Oh no…" Kane recognized the spell even before the torrential downpour began, hastily drawing a Myth symbol with his sword. "I'm sorry," he whispered as the spell was cast, and his Cyclops began to glow a bright white. The light completely engulfed the minion before turning green and rushing at Kane as a stream of revitalizing energy. Kane knew the Cyclops would not survive the storm Alia had cast, so it was more useful to sacrifice him for renewed health.

It was just in time, too, as the tempest hit full strength and a sudden gust of wind nearly knocked Kane over. The rain stung his face like tiny needles and rattled on his armor, but he ignored that and focused more on trying to avoid the lightning striking down sporadically.

The smoke, however, was cleared in a matter of seconds, revealing the battlefield once more. Talon was crouching beside one of the massive roots at the base of his infernal tree home, which was the only thing still burning even as the storm raged. The storm had ripped the hood off his head, allowing his shoulder-length crimson hair to whip wildly around his face, giving the impression his head was as enflamed as his tree. Alia was standing firm and unwavering near what was once a pond but was quickly refilling, and Kane was crouched in the center of the battlefield, clutching his sword.

"Not helping, Alia!" Kane roared over the storm, as he felt himself start to sink. The torrential rainfall was turning the ashen ground into muck. Lightning crashed all around them, sending splatters of mud into the air.

"At least there's no more smoke!" She yelled back, beginning another Storm spell as the last bolt of lightning slammed into the root Talon was hiding beside. The explosion sent him reeling. Alia's spell surged forth shortly after, forming a vortex in the clouds overhead.

Talon hastily cast a glacial shield spell, a blue orb and a purple orb beginning to circle him as three lightning bats flew out of the vortex and assumed their triangle formation. Talon planted his feet and prepared himself for the stream of energy, which struck his Storm shield with a crackle.

While most of the energy was dissipated around him, some still rushed through his body, making him wince. Talon growled and spun his staff over his head, Fire symbol blazing. When he slammed his staff onto the ground the symbol burst and the ground cracked, small pillars of fire spewing out.

A moment later, the ground exploded as a gigantic form forced its way out of the earth, sending molten shards everywhere. It was an enormous hound of hell, with fur as red as a burning coal and paws the size of Alia tipped with black claws. The hound took one look at Alia with its eyes aflame, before it tilted its head up and howled.

It was a deafening howl that sounded like a roaring industrial furnace, and sent a chill down Alia's spine. She'd seen Talon use the heckhound spell before, but this time it seemed far more intimidating. The beast looked at Alia again before stepping back and opening its maw, spewing forth a blaze.

Alia managed to get a fire shield up in time, but the fire continued to rage around her shield even after the heckhound disappeared. It wasn't long before it sputtered and died, and Alia cried out as she began to burn.

The casting of the spell distracted Talon, so he was surprised when he caught a glance of Kane charging him from the corner of his eye. While he managed to get his staff up to block Kane's strike, there was enough force behind it that the blade still left a slice in his arm. Talon cringed at the bite of the blade, and something seemed to snap as he bled.

Suddenly dropping his staff, the pyromancer spun around Kane, pulling out a knife as he did so. In a heartbeat Kane found his left arm behind his back, and a knife to his throat. He promptly dropped his sword to the ground.

"How about I just kill you now, huh?" Talon snarled into Kane's ear.

"You wouldn't," Kane whispered back. There was the thinnest trickle of fear in his voice.

"You think I won't?" Talon snapped, pressing the Dragonspyrian athame against Kane's throat harder.

"Talon no!" Rowan cried out from her entrapment. She stepped towards the two, but the moment her foot left the spell circle it reacted, glowing fiercely and forcing her back. She tried to leave her body and ethereally stop them, but her ghostly form slammed up against the barrier, unable to get through. She had to return to her body in frustration, crying out again to Talon not to do it.

Her voice was drowned out by a melodious calling, however, as an angelic figure flew towards the two wizards. At first it looked like a seraph, but upon closer inspection this angel had black hair and was blindfolded, and carried a crescent blade and a scale. When she hovered beside the combatants, they both looked at her for a brief moment. She seemed to somehow look at them as well, before taping her scale with the sword. When it was struck the scale chimed, and two white flames came alive in the scale's dishes.

Kane took the distraction as an opportunity and grabbed Talon's knife hand, releasing himself and flipping Talon onto his back in one fluid motion. He got no further though, as a vortex of light formed between them and then exploded, sending them flying apart.

"Nunca más, Talon!" Miguel demanded as he flew onto the battlefield on his white Pegasus. Astride the magnificent steed, Miguel looked like a Spanish hero in his tan and purple-trimmed cavalry uniform and splendidly feathered swashbuckler's hat. He jumped down from the horse, which slowly faded away once he had dismounted, and drew his saber. "This has gone beyond far, Talon, when you threaten Kane's life."

Talon picked himself up off the ground, disoriented briefly, but he straightened quickly and held out his right hand. His staff levitated off the ground, flying back into his waiting grasp.

"Ah, Miguel Spellblade. Decided to grace us with your presence, have you?" Talon remarked coolly, planting his staff firmly on the ground. "It's about time I had a worthy opponent, I think," Talon added as Kane got up off the ground.

"I'm not here to fight you, Talon," Miguel replied, keeping his saber ready at his side. "I'm here to stop you fighting."

"Oh, that's a shame," Talon smirked, shaking his head. "It would have been far more fun than fighting Kane." The conjurer growled at this statement, heading over to his own sword and picking it up.

"Alia, are you alright?" Kane called over to the still burning diviner, who tried to stand up as the flames crackled over her.

"I'll… be fine," She hoarsely replied, resting on one knee.

"Since you won't fight me, I have a question for you," Talon cut in; he sounded so cool and calm you'd almost think Alia wasn't burning at that moment. But at the same time, he had that suave to his manner that suggested he was up to something. "Do you think Kane loves Rowan?" Miguel raised an eyebrow at this, before looking at Kane. Kane shrugged, frowning.

"I hardly see how this is-"

"Answer! The! Question!" Talon snapped, his knuckles turning white as he tightened his grip on his staff. Each word was punctuated with a tongue of flame spurting from his hair towards the sky, culminating in a rather lengthy blaze. His eyes were narrowed menacingly at Miguel.

"Very well," Miguel replied calmly, not taking Talon's rage-bait. "I think he does, and I think he lives in denial concerning it." Kane glared at Miguel.

"For the last time, Miguel, I do not love Rowan," Kane snapped. Miguel had been bothering him for some time now about loving Rowan, and he was fed up it. He didn't have the time or desire to handle relationships. _This_ was difficult enough.

"Prove it, then," Talon dared, glaring at Kane now. The conjurer's violet eyes returned the expression.

"Excuse me?"

"Prove it, Kane. Prove you do not love Rowan," Talon explained, and Kane raised an eyebrow.

"And just _how_ would you like me to prove that?" Kane inquired.

"By letting her turn to ash," Talon's voice took on a dark, edged tone as he snapped his fingers, and a ring of fire burst to life around Rowan, mere feet away from her.

"What the hell Talon!" Miguel, Kane, and Rowan all shouted at once, as Rowan hastily began her shielding spells to protect herself from the ring of fire.

"Miguel, help her. I'll finish this!" Kane snarled, whirling on Talon with his sword slashing at the pyromancer. Talon stepped back and opened his palm, emitting a fireball that caught Kane in the chest and sent him flying back. His amulet kept him safe from the fire, but as he landed with a hard clank his body was briefly jarred.

Talon spun his staff over his head as Miguel moved to help Rowan, a Fire symbol forming. Rowan tried to convince Miguel her own shields would be fine but he was adamant about giving her an elemental shield spell.

"But you'll be far too busy defending yourself!" Talon laughed manically, as the Fire spell blazed forth. At first, nothing happened; for a second, everything was quiet except the crackling flames. But then they all heard a roar, and several portals opened in the sky, revealing the source of the deafening noise.

It was a meteor shower, with huge superheated rocks plummeting towards them. Miguel quickly realized there was only one person incapable of defense right now, and that was Alia, who was still covered in fire. If a meteor hit anywhere near her…

Miguel apologized to Rowan, sprinting towards his other sister-in-law as he etched a Storm symbol above his head. By the time he reached Alia, a red orb floated around him along with a blue orb, and he stood before her with arms outstretched, planting his feet for the oncoming meteor.

Kane did his best to dodge the fiery missiles, seeking to hone in on Talon and end this. However, the pyromancer closed his fist and Rowan shouted.

"Talon, seriously!" She cried as the flames slowly moved closer.

"It's closing in on her, Kane," Talon declared wickedly, as if he was enjoying himself. "Soon, she will be consumed by fire with no means of escape. Do you know the best way to stop the undead, Kane?"

"Burn them…" Kane replied softly, his face alight with realization. Permanently destroying the undead had been covered in one of his text books from freshman year at Ravenwood, but he hadn't considered it worth major study. Now he wished he had.

"That's right… **_burn _**them," Talon growled the word 'burn' in a gravelly voice, sneering. "Would you do that to Rowan… would you let her burn to the ground?"

"Don't listen to him, Kane!" Rowan shouted above the ring of fire, which was steadily burning around chest height, conveniently allowing her to continue viewing the battle. Too conveniently, in fact; it was becoming increasingly obvious this spell circle served more than one purpose. "I can handle it! I've got shields!" As she said this, the heat of the flames finally ate away her first shield, and it sputtered and died. She began another, feeling the full heat now. If she could sweat, she probably would be.

Talon chuckled, and Kane watched with a solemn gaze as Rowan cast her next shield. All three of them knew it, but only Talon was saying it; Rowan wouldn't survive this. Not without some help. That fire was closing in on her, getting hotter with every passing second, and showed no signs of stopping. She could cast her shields for only so long. Kane reached under his chainmail, pulling out the amulet that protected him from Talon's fire.

"You know there is only one way, Kane, to ensure she survives this," Talon remarked as he watched the conjurer stare at the amulet. Meteors burned through the air all around them, shaking the ground with their impacts, but both wizards just swayed to the shakes, paying little attention to them. "But can you make such a _loving _sacrifice?"

Kane furrowed his brow, anger welling inside him. He'd been forced to face his fear of death, he'd been forced to face his distrust of others, and he'd been forced to face his cooperation faults. But he had never been forced to face his emotional attachments. He tried to imagine a life without Rowan; he wouldn't, because with every imagined scenario that could have –but didn't- include Rowan, he found himself hating them. A life without Rowan would be dull, boring, and would harm his academic studies since she tutored him in Death.

But basically, it would be like… life before he met Rowan. And Kane found his gut revolting at the idea. He looked down at the amulet. It was a simple piece of faux silver jewelry, fashioned as a five-point star with a large red central orb. Nothing special and certainly not something Kane would have ever expected to become a symbol of love.

"Kane, don't you dare!" Rowan shouted over the flames.

"Aww, look at the little thing, trying so hard to pretend to care for your safety," Talon jeered, and it only served to make both Kane and Rowan snarl. "It's almost convincing, isn't it?"

"She has more heart than you do right now, Talon," Kane snapped, yanking the necklace off. "And so do I…" Kane looked down at the amulet briefly, then over to Rowan, who shook her head with fearful eyes. She knew what Talon was planning, and Kane was walking right into it. "Don't give it back, Rowan, because I won't take no for an answer," he declared, throwing the amulet to Rowan. It landed at her feet, creating a small splash of muddy ash.

Talon gave a grave chuckle, a sound far too deep to sound appropriate from him. Kane looked at the pyromancer with grit teeth.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Talon responded honestly, smirking. "I'm just so delighted to see that even the great Kane Darksword can be weakened by love. I was like that, too. My love for others caused me to fear my power, and it made me weak. But now…" The final meteor crashed to the ground behind him, sending a heated shockwave through the air. The air rushed past Talon, making his hair dance wildly, but he was otherwise unaffected.

"Now I embrace the power within me, and I am stronger than ever," Talon's smirk turned into a sneer. "While you, you've just grown weaker with love. Love for a woman who cannot truly return that love. And it will cost you dearly."

Kane spun his sword at his side, the blade leaving wisps of smoke in its wake, before leveling the tip towards Talon. His expression was no longer one of anger, or even frustration. Rather, he was completely collected, drawing on his training in Mooshu as a Samoorai and forcing himself to clear his mind of such distracting emotions. He needed a clear, level head for the fight now, as the situation had suddenly changed.

Not only was Kane no longer properly protected from Talon's flames, but he had discovered Talon's true strength. Until now, Kane had been treating this like any wizard duel, and treating Talon like any clever opponent. But this trap revealed the true potential of the new Talon Skullflame, the true extent of his deviousness. Now he understood why Talon had never once seemed surprised by the events unfolding tonight.

He was never surprised because he had anticipated all of it: the duel, Alia and Rowan interrupting, Miguel arriving to stop them when he tried to slit Kane's throat. He anticipated each of their actions and planned accordingly. Perhaps he even orchestrated them. But the grandest scheme revolved around the entrapment of Rowan. What at first seemed a sadistic torture device was now clearly the first step to a trap that ultimately reduced Kane's ability to defend himself in this duel. They had willingly, naturally stumbled into the trap, because it was tailored specifically to them, each piece separately devised to play upon an aspect of the prey's character. It was a game of chess in which Talon knew every move they would make, before they knew they would make it.

It was a head game unlike any Kane had ever faced; Kane was outwitted, and he knew the odds were against him, but he wasn't about to let that stop him.

"We'll see about that," Kane said in a cold, unnervingly level tone. He wasn't about to go down without a fight, no matter the odds.


	10. Fire and Ice

**Fire and Ice**

"Miguel, I'm home!" Tasha called out as she opened the door. She was very well dressed in a lovely icicle-blue dress, with long white sleeves and a starburst on the chest. It also had a long, thin purple gem hanging from a chain around her waist. It was one of her more wearable, bearable dresses.

Unlike the ones she was now carrying from hangers on her fingers. Many of them featured large, puffy skirts and/or corseted torsos. While she found them extremely uncomfortable, they were practically required at formal occasions in Marleybone.

"I got some lovely dresses for the Queen's Royal Ball and the Constable's Ball, and picked up a few other things as well," she announced as she headed up the first flight of stairs, perplexed as to the lack of answer from Miguel. He was always prompt in pouring love on her upon her arrival. When she reached the second level of the mansion, she found it empty; except for Winston, their wooden servant.

This was odd, since Miguel spent this time of night either by the fire, playing the piano, or reading one of the many manuscripts inherited from his father by the window. Yet Miguel wasn't doing any of that. He wasn't even there.

Before Tasha began searching for her husband, she noticed the glowing crystal ball on the dinning table. Setting her dresses down on the settee by the stone fireplace, she approached the crystal, gazing into its glowing depths.

Within the ball she could see fire, everywhere, surrounding a group of wizards in a great ring. In the center of the ring was a massive tree that was somehow continually burning. She could barely make out the figures in the firelight, but one of them cast a Myth spell, an enormous Minotaur emerging from the resulting flash of light. A golden aura shifted off of the wizard, enveloping and strengthening the Minotaur as it hefted its double-bladed ax at a wizard clad in black. Another wizard cast a Storm spell, and a shark leaped out of a pool of water to attack the black wizard as well.

Tasha watched the battle go on, focusing hard on trying to make out the combatants, until the black wizard began a fire spell. From her vantage point his casting gave her a good angle, the light of his symbol revealing his face, and wild red hair she'd recognize anywhere.

"Winston! Find my staff!" Tasha called out, running up to the bedroom to confirm her suspicions. _I knew it! Miguel's fighting with Talon!_ Tasha growled softly, angry that her husband would run off and put himself in danger like this, without even warning her!

She returned to the second floor to find Winston holding her staff, the Pillar of Ice. It was a wooden staff with a fur wrap in the middle of the handle, and didn't look like much till one reached the crown. There, a cluster of indestructible ice crystals sat on a bed of fur, chilling the air surrounding them. Winston also had a set of blue armor she had not worn in some time. He had grabbed the armor as well, just in case.

"Thanks, Winston, but there's no time to change," Tasha said, grabbing the icy staff and disappearing in a puff of snowflakes.

* * *

"Stop protecting me and take care of yourself, dammit," Kane snapped as Miguel placed another elemental shielding spell over him. His last elemental shield had been spent on a sunbird, and while secretly thankful for the quick response by Miguel, Kane's pride was taking a hit with every shield cast.

"But he's not attacking me," Miguel commented back calmly as Kane's Minotaur left Talon sprawled over a large tree root. Miguel weaved his sword through the air, forming a sparkling Storm symbol. When the spell was completed, his storm shark launched from the pond Alia had filled with her squall, plummeting towards Talon in a stream of electricity.

Talon barely put up his shield in time, the jaws of the beast closing around his protective bubble and its teeth sending jolts of power at the pyromancer. As quickly as the jaws shut, the shark became immaterial, falling through the root and out of existence, leaving a lightning-scorched circle around Talon.

Standing up slowly, the wizard gripped his staff tight and pointed it at his opponents, launching fireballs. It was just a distraction though, as his furious face glowed from the light of his new Fire symbol.

When the spell was cast, a ball of fire shot forth, but quickly dropped to the ground below, landing far from either of his opponents. It exploded, spreading outward in a ring of flames. Both wizards backed away, and Talon smirked, planting his staff on the hard wood of the root and watching.

In only a second, the ring of fire shot upward, becoming a giant bonfire before Kane and Miguel. They both held their swords at the ready, unsure what this spell would bring forth. Slowly, a rising dark form became visible in the flames. It had apparently finished forming because the bonfire withered away, revealing the massive creature.

"You have **got **to be kidding me," Kane muttered. It was a helephant, nearly twice the size of the Oni of Mooshu and clad in similar red and gold plated armor. The helephant brandished an infernal scimitar and stomped the ground, causing both wizards to lose their balance.

The helephant lifted its snout and blared like a trumpet, glaring at Kane. In that instant, Kane knew he was helpless. Not even Miguel's elemental shield would hold that thing back.

But it wasn't after him, suddenly turning and sweeping its scimitar towards Miguel. The sword left flames in its wake that sped towards him, and the sorcerer desperately tried to cast his shield.

The flames never reached Miguel, though, as they dissipated across the surface of a thick crystalline pillar of pure ice. It had grown suddenly from the ground without warning in an oddly good moment, cracking when the fire hit its frozen façade. The entire structure exploded shortly after, revealing a very well dressed, and very displeased, Tasha.

An Ice symbol formed before her as the helephant brought the sword into a backswing strike, being replaced by a rectangle of white light when she dug the tip of her staff in the ground before her. It was a large tower shield made of pure light, and met the helephant's strike with explosive resistance.

The blast of fire pushed Tasha back several inches, but she kept a tight grip on her staff, the anchor of the shield, ignoring the heat wave that followed.

"Miguel," Tasha shouted over the explosive blast.

"Yes, mi amor?" Miguel asked softly in the following silence.

"We _will_ be discussing this later," She looked over her shoulder at her husband, blue eyes holding nothing but contempt at the moment. Her voice had a charged undertone of anger. It was a tone he had heard thankfully few times.

"Sí, mi amor," Miguel conceded, knowing that at this moment agreement was his safest option. A small part of him felt sorry for what Talon was about to have to endure.

The light faded, the tower shield disappearing as Tasha straightened to stand tall and proud, looking straight at Talon and planting her staff firmly beside her. Her hair was up in a pretty little bun, not her usual chin length sweep style, and she was in rather dainty flats that were now getting ruined in the ashy muck. She had truly gone into battle dressed like she was headed to the mall.

Talon raised an eyebrow, looking –for once- perplexed and surprised by the turn of events.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Defending my husband, you hot-headed madman," Tasha snapped back. Talon looked amused by this, but there was an underlying vein of scheming behind his amiable smile. He leaped down from the tall root, landing with the grace of a bird. He took a few steps forward; Tasha remained unmoving.

"Very well, then," Talon brushed an unruly wave of red hair from his face. "If you are so intent on fighting me, thaumaturge, then give me your best shot," he dared, suddenly sweeping his staff upward. A ribbon of flame followed, quickly released into a wave of fire surging towards Tasha.

The thaumaturge didn't even flinch, however, casually raising her left hand and thrusting her palm forward. The air before her shimmered and shuddered, pulling what moisture she could from the air to form a small wall of ice between her and the flames. When the two forces met, the ice cracked and the fire died out, canceling each other.

"My turn," Tasha muttered, spreading her arms out as she closed her eyes. An Ice symbol formed in front of her, filling the air with the sound of soft wind chimes. She spun her staff at her side once before bringing it over her head with both hands. When she brought the staff down it was with force, but the crystals did not break on impact.

Instead, the sound of cracking glass filled the air, ice swiftly forming across the ground and spreading towards Talon. Before he could react he found himself slipping on the thin layer, crashing to the ground.

Between them the ice began to build up, as a twister of chilled wind whirled there, becoming a beautiful small hill. But then, without warning, threatening spikes of ice shot out of the hill, and a low rumble shook the earth. A moment later, a serpentine creature emerged from a previously unseen hole in the ice. It was an ice wyvern, a wyvern subspecies that sported no wings but two massive clawed hands and a furred ruff around its neck.

The wyvern regarded Talon for a moment, then scooted back to position itself for the attack. Talon scrambled on the ice, trying to get out of the way. While it was true he had an Ice shield active, this was still going to be painful. It was no use, however, and the wyvern plunged forward with an open maw.

Rather than devour Talon, though, the creature emitted a thick blast of frosted air at high speed. The result was a beautiful sight and created a melodious sound, like a long note played from a clarinet, but not for Talon.

For Talon, the rush of cold wind lashed against his now flaring shield, biting into his defense and making the air around him considerably colder than he'd like. The wyvern kept at it for several moments, and for Talon it felt endless as the cold began to bite down to his very bones.

* * *

Rowan had been holding off well enough, managing to keep Talon's ring of fire at bay by alternating Kane's amulet shield with her own shielding spells. She wasn't sure she'd be able to survive forever like this, but for now it was keeping her from being singed.

She was worried, though, about the safety of her sisters, with Alia burned and Tasha now joining the fray.

"Alia," Rowan called out to her sister as the others fought. Alia had only recently been released from her cloak of flames, and had been lying there, groaning, as a sprite spell worked its magic to get her at least capable of standing without assistance.

"Yeah?" Alia replied, her voice at least sounding somewhat normal again. She got to her hands and knees, sighing as the emerald lights danced around her aching body.

"You okay?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah… it was just a really tough heckhound, that's all," Alia brushed it off, brushing a strand of hair aside. "What about you? You're surrounded by fire." Alia commented.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm managing, but I think I have an idea for stopping the fire and getting Talon under control," Rowan explained, motioning around her. "But this trap is keeping me here. I can't even teleport out. I tried."

"What ya need me to do?" Alia asked, picking up her sword.

"I need to you get Professor Falmea," Rowan replied. "I think she might be able to get this situation sorted out. Or at least get me in the action," she added. She hoped all of it could be done, really, because she was growing very sick of watching Talon beat up everyone close to her.

"Alright, I'm on it," Alia answered, disappearing in a crackle of thunder just as Tasha's ice wyvern began to freeze Talon.

* * *

The Commons was completely vacant when Alia teleported into the street. It was a stark reminder that they were doing this insane battle in the dead of night. Alia sighed, turning to the tunnel that led to Ravenwood.

As she walked down the tunnel, she became steadily more relieved that Rowan had asked her to do this. She was also glad that Headmaster Ambrose had seen fit to enchant the Commons and Ravenwood with a low-energy, continuous healing charm. It was a slow working magic, but right now with her aches and burning pains, she was thankful for any healing she could get.

By the time she reached the School of Fire, Alia had recovered enough to keep her balance easily and not look like a diviner roast fresh off the spit. She was disappointed by a locked door, however.

"Thinking about it, I probably should've seen this coming," She thought aloud, reminding herself it was night. Possibly even the middle of the night. She wasn't really sure.

_ I don't have to time to walk to Falmea's home anyway, and by Bartleby I am not running anywhere like this!_ She thought to herself for a moment, leaning on the side of the school, before whistling.

A moment later, the shadows of the night began to shift, rippling and wriggling beside her in clumps of cloud-like darkness. Finally a large mass emerged, two slits opening to reveal feline eyes that gleamed in the moonlight.

It was a black panther sporting a special saddle on its back, a gift from Rowan to her sister for her sixteenth birthday. She loved her Bartholomew, with all his hefty, dark grace and soft fur. It was the best gift Rowan had ever given her.

She approached the panther and held his large head in her hands, scratching the sides of his face. He closed his eyes and seemed delighted.

"Alright boy, I need to get to Professor Falmea's, and fast," She told him, heading over to his side and mounting the panther. "Rowan is counting on us, so let's not let her down."

Bartholomew growled in agreement and launched into a run.

* * *

Talon's sunbird spell seemed to have little effect on Tasha, as her fire shield deflected most of the blast around her, leaving her in a protected bubble engulfed by flames. The air around her sparkled with snowflakes as she forced it cooler to fight the heat penetrating her shield. When the fire died out, she began another Ice spell, and it covered her body in a soft blue glow.

"Miguel, give me a boost," Tasha ordered, as Kane distracted Talon with brief clashes of slashing sword and swinging staff.

Miguel complied readily, his Balanceblade spell covering Tasha in an aura of white light that fought with her Iceblade for dominance, resulting in a coruscating show of blue and white light around her. She could feel the power charging through her, but she waited. She had to strike at the right moment, had to charge her magic to just the right strength.

Kane's troll leaped at Talon to club him, but the pyro's Myth shield sent troll and wizard stumbling backwards, blocking the strike. Talon reposted by sweeping his staff over his head, a tendril of fire snaking down from his infernal tree as a Fire symbol formed before him.

When the spell was cast, however, it resulted in Talon being engulfed in flames, as the tendril shot into him. He was noticeably cringing, but continued to sweep his staff in small circles, gathering more tendrils of fire. With each one his pain grew until he was nearly crying out.

And then he brought his left hand behind him, all of the fire on his body gathering in a great sphere of condensed combustion around his fist. Looking at Kane, Talon smirked, before throwing his fist forward and splaying his fingers.

From that open palm erupted the greatest plume of fire they had yet to see come from Talon himself, the ball of flame surrounding his fist becoming a engorged river of scorching heat, immolating everything in its path.

"Kane!" Tasha shouted, casting another tower shield. This time the spell became a ball of light, which she threw at the conjurer. It landed before him and sprung into a tall white wall of light, which Kane instinctively crouched behind. The blazing river hit the shield and divided, spewing streams of fire in every direction. Miguel's elemental shield flared to life, wrapping Kane in a protective field.

But even with the two shields working in tandem, he could feel the oppressive dryness of the inferno, the air around him beginning to undulate like a desert mirage. It was becoming harder to breathe as the flames continued to wrap around his shielding, and when it finally all stopped and his shields died away, he took a sharp, wheezing breath and collapsed to his knees.

Talon's smirk had grown more vile and smug, but it was wiped from his face when a hoard of locusts surrounded him, lifting him into the air and biting every inch of his body, tearing at clothing to get to the sensitive flesh beneath. They didn't last long, though, as Talon ignited himself, sending the locusts spiraling to the ground in smoky trails.

"Nice try, Miguel, but your insects won't last long against me!" Talon roared, sending a blast at the sorcerer, who deftly dodged the projectile.

"And neither will your clothes," Kane teased back from his knees, smirking. "One more locust swarm and you'll be indecent for sure," he chuckled. He didn't really care; he just wanted to get under Talon's skin for once, like he'd been doing to them all night. Talon snarled and blasted at Kane as well, but this one hit its mark and sent Kane sprawling.

"Miguel, more power," Tasha demanded softly, maintaining her ladylike poise and gracefulness. That had to be the one thing irking Talon the most about Tasha. Since her arrival, she had not moved more than five feet from the spot she had originally appeared, not even to dodge spells. Nor had she even batted an eyelid at his strikes against any of them. He was supposed to be the calm and collected one!

Miguel complied with his woman, divining her plan several minutes earlier. His Balance symbol blazed in the air before winking out, and he was surrounded by sparkling lights. The lights rose over him, before bolting over to his wife and raining down upon her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, spreading her arms out as every sparkle of light seeped into her, giving her a rush of magical energy.

Talon anticipated her intentions just like Miguel, and already had begun a shielding spell.

"Oh no you don't buddy," Kane muttered under his breath, getting to his feet and weaving a Myth symbol with his sword. "You're gonna take it all like a real man!" Kane shouted as he punched through the symbol and continued his swing, gathering mythical energy with it before his fist slammed into the ground.

It didn't look like much of a strike, but the magic behind the hit did the rest, as the ground split in front of Kane's fist. The crack paused for but a moment, then raced across the ground towards Talon, spires of rock shooting from the earth as the crack widened as it approached its target.

The resulting force of the earthquake made everyone but Tasha stagger, and it sent Talon onto his back. Spears of mythical energy shot out of the earth, colliding with his shield orbs and shattering them like glass. He was defenseless as Tasha finished her Ice spell, a chilling fog rolling into the valley.

The fog covered and concealed everything, except a bright white light at the heart of it. The light dimmed quickly, however, and the fog crept back, gathering beneath the torso of a colossal barbaric figure with pale blue skin and an icicle beard. It was a Giant, like the ones from the tales of the creation of the universe, and it hefted a massive hammer of solid ice.

The giant looked around for a moment, before glancing up and noticing a horn of its helmet had begun to melt due to proximity to the blazing tree at the heart of the sanctuary. Grumbling, the giant blew at the tree; the flames froze instantly, the entire tree becoming an ice sculpture.

Talon looked up at the massive beast, groaning. The giant's presence was already causing the entire environment to drop several degrees. A fire symbol flared before him, turning into an orange aura of strengthening heat as he cast the Fireblade. His spell drew attention from the giant, however, who huffed at a pyromancer in his presence and swung his hammer above his head.

"Everybody wants to turn me into a nail today, I swear," Talon grumbled as he collected himself into a ball, trying to maintain body heat as the giant brought his hammer down, and a torrent of frigid air followed.

When the attack ended, Talon was nearly frozen in place. An aggravated growl grew into a roar of fury as he found himself barely able to move. He streamed fire through his body, forcing the ice to weaken until he broke free, surrounded now by a twister of flame.

"I have had enough of this!" He declared, Fire symbol flaring before him. He slammed the butt of his staff into the ground, putting all his fury and frustration behind the strike. The spell symbol exploded and the orange aura around him siphoned off into the blast, which swiftly expanded into a giant ring of scalding flame. It radiated outward from Talon with the explosiveness of a bomb, catching everyone but the pyromancer in its mighty blast.

* * *

Truthfully, Alia didn't have a clue where Professor Falmea's house was. She suspected she lived in Firecat Alley; because, well, why wouldn't she? But beyond that, Alia was clueless. So she did what any woman would do. She decided to ask for directions.

"Alright, Bartholomew, you flush 'em out, and I'll catch one," She whispered to her panther, as he slinked across the ground towards a firebush, his low posture doing little to hide his bulk.

It seemed to hide his bulk from the creature he was stalking however, as nothing moved until the panther pounced upon the bush. There was a yelp as a yellow streak shot out of the bush, and Alia pointed a finger at the blur. A bolt of lightning faster than the creature crackled out of her finger and electrocuted the prey.

The creature was a fire elf, a tiny thing Bartholomew could eat in merely two bites. It was shuddering from the electricity running through its body, but Alia knew it would survive. She remembered fighting them often many years ago when Wizard City was rife with troubles. These were hardy creatures and she had merely stunned the elf.

"I need to know where Falmea lives, and you're the only things out this time of night so I'm stuck asking you," Alia informed the shuddering elf, who frowned. "So, where's her house?"

The fire elf jerked his head, but Alia couldn't tell if it was shock-induced convulsions or directions. He kept twitching until Alia ordered him to show her the way, and it became clear she wasn't getting it. Trying a new tactic, the fire elf's right arm shot out, shaking and twitching but repeatedly pointing towards a single house across the lane, the windows still lit by firelight.

"Oh… well that was easy," Alia commented, smiling at the fire elf. "Thanks, and sorry about the bolt," she apologized, making her way towards the house. The fire elf gave a humph before recovering and hopping off, but not before leaving a little present in Alia's backside.

"Little bastard!"

* * *

Talon surveyed the destruction around him, a satisfied smirk on his face. The area was littered with small blazes, burning softly wherever flammable material still remained. His opponents lay scattered about, also burning from the lingering magical flames of his spell.

They were lucky though, to just be burning from the after-flame. They would have been incinerated if not for Tasha's quick-thinking casting of a legion shield, protecting them with walls of bright white light. Tower shields were, however, a universal shielding spell, designed to protect against all forms of magic and therefore lacking the specialization of a Fire shield. It had saved them from initial incineration, but would not hold back the burns to come.

Talon moved towards Tasha, who lay on her back, staff some feet away. She was groaning as she felt the heat of the flames searing into her. Talon also groaned, at one point stumbling as he approached. He was wounded from the rapid, harsh strikes they had delivered, but not out. A Fire symbol crackled and flickered before him, and a green light began to spin between the wizards, linking them together.

"You've caused enough trouble, girl," Talon grumbled, kneeling next to her. A soft green aura began to wash over his body. "Now it's time for you to be useful," he added, as the spell completed itself and Tasha cried out in agony. The cloak of fire surrounding her body grew in strength, while Talon's healing aura pulsed with power.

"Talon, you'll kill her!" Rowan cried out from her magical cage. She was the only one unharmed by his spell, being the one most protected from Fire magic. She had poured all her shields into protecting herself from the tsunami of flames.

"I won't, and you know that," Talon replied curtly, looking towards the necromancer. "Her thaumaturgy imparts remarkable physical and magical resilience. She'll survive," he said, beginning to stroll between the three burning wizards. "I'm surprised to hear you are afraid for their lives, however," he looked at Rowan again with a smug expression. "I thought necromancers were supposed to conquer fear. Besides, can't you just stop by the underworld and pay a visit every Sunday or whatever?" Talon shrugged. "I don't see how it would really matter then, to you, whether anyone lived or died."

"Their happiness matters to me, Talon," Rowan replied coolly. "And they wouldn't be happy dead."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Talon asked, heading towards Kane slowly. "Wouldn't death be a release from the pain and suffering of this world?"

"Except the underworld has its own troubles, Talon," Rowan explained. "Depending on your actions in life, there could be paradise, or unimaginable suffering." Talon grinned broadly at this, an eerily inappropriate grin.

"Shall we see, then, which eternity he will face?" Talon said, bending down and lifting Kane onto his knees. He held the conjurer upright by his collar, unconcerned by the flames licking at Kane's body. Talon then dropped his staff, holding his right hand open. His athame hovered off the ground some distance away and flew to him, the handle connecting with Talon's open palm comfortably. He held the dagger up for a moment, caressing the edge with the index finger of the hand in which he held it. Seemingly satisfied with the edge's sharpness, he carefully brought the blade to Kane's exposed neck.

"Talon!" Rowan screeched. She couldn't believe what she was seeing; Talon was actually going to kill him! _I have to break this thing,_ she thought, throwing a barrage of Death magic all around her. Each blast of shadow hit the dome and burst into a cloud of smoke, lingering for a moment before dissipating. Talon looked over Kane's head to sneer at Rowan's efforts, obviously amused. Rowan stopped when the smog became too much and blocked her view. When it faded away, the dome still glimmered gently, untouched. She cursed. "Don't do it Talon! He doesn't deserve to die!"

"Doesn't he?" Talon asked. She couldn't see Kane's face, since his back was to her, but she could feel his fear. "I think that's all a matter of _perspective_, don't you Kane?"

Kane was unresponsive, violet eyes half-closed in a daze from the searing pain. He was sitting just a step above unconsciousness. Talon bent down, whispering into Kane's ear.

"I wonder, Kane, how she'll react when you die. Don't you?" Talon sneered as he spoke, glancing at Rowan. She was shuddering, her knuckles white from the death grip on her bony staff. "Do you think she'll show as much love for your life, as you did for her unlife?" Kane glared at Talon through the veil of flames, but felt too weak to move. He was scared. By Bartleby was he scared of Talon right now. But he wasn't about to let Talon see that. He would never, ever let that wretched, insane boy have the satisfaction of knowing he had succeeded.

"Stoic to the end," Talon muttered, straightening to look at Rowan. "I would tell you to say goodbye, Rowan… but I suppose for you, it's more like 'see you later', isn't it?" She cried out and shot Ice and Death magic frantically against her prison, but it each shot was ineffective and left her concealed in clouds of snow and shadows.

She thought she heard a soft cracking when her last blast hit, however, and with renewed vigor grabbed Terminus in both hands and swung. The staff connected with the dome of energy, a large crack forming. It glowed fiercely, piercing the shadows of her spells. Rowan grinned and swung again, but this time was shoved back with incredible force, knocking her off her feet. She growled as the crack resealed itself.

"Talon, I swear, if you kill him, you will regret it!" Rowan howled from the ground, the smoke from her spells beginning to clear.

"Oh my, Rowan, what feisty words, for one so helpless," Talon mocked, his tone dark and venomous. He looked down at Kane, smirking. "She'll see you later, bud," he slid the Dragonspyrian dagger across Kane's throat, releasing his collar. Kane teetered on his knees, before Talon stepped to one side and gently pushed the back of his head. The conjurer fell face first into the ash at Talon's feet, and didn't move.

* * *

Dalia Falmea had been reading by the fire when Alia arrived, and was curious as to why a student came to her at the dead of night for anything. When Alia mentioned Talon, however, she was allowed in without further question.

Alia had never been in Professor Falmea's home before, but wasn't all that surprised to see a plethora of flame themed decorations and candles, or the domination of red and orange in the color scheme. Falmea had her sit down by the fireplace to explain the situation. She seemed genuinely concerned about Talon as Alia spoke about what was going on tonight. Alia purposely decided to leave out the cause of it all, feeling that was a matter too personal for the professor to know.

Professor Falmea was quick to grab her wand when Alia reiterated Talon's words during the smokescreen. Her wand was a startlingly simple stick of gnarled wood with an orange orb at the top that emitted a candlelight glow, but Alia could feel its power from where she sat.

"I was afraid this would happen one day. We must hurry," she stated, and Alia stood up swiftly.

"But wait, aren't you going to put on armor or something?" Alia looked over the Professor, who even now wore her sultry, flame-patterned red dress.

"There is no need for that," Falmea replied, looking Alia over now. "Can you perform healing?"

"Yes," Alia wasn't sure if she liked the Fire Professor looking her over. There seemed to be an air of displeasure in her eyes.

"Good, your friends will need it. Now, come with me," Falmea grabbed Alia's hand and stood in front of the fireplace.

"Wait, don't you need me to show you the-" she was interrupted by the roar of flames rushing out of the fireplace to engulf them. The flames wrapped around both and sucked them into the fireplace, where they disappeared.


	11. Fighting Fire With Fire

**Fighting Fire with Fire**

Rowan was on her hands and knees, trying to get to her feet. She had looked up, however, in time to see Kane killed, and now found herself unable to continue to rise.

He had done it… he had actually killed Kane. Tears began to crawl down her face; since she was undead, though, they were more ectoplasmic than watery, and left yellow-green streaks.

_Talon is dead._ She thought to herself, grabbing a fistful of dirt. It was a thought with double meaning to her, as she felt the intense, raging desire to send him after Kane. But the fact that Talon, a man she had known since attending Ravenwood so many years ago, had killed someone meant that Talon was already dead, as far as she was concerned. The man holding that knife was not Talon any longer.

Closing her eyes and gripping Terminus tightly, she rose with the stiff slowness of a corpse fresh out of the grave. When she opened her eyes again, Talon was standing outside the ring of fire that surrounded her.

"What is wrong with you?" Rowan snapped, anger clear in her voice. "My Talon would never kill someone intentionally."

"Ah, but I'm not _your _Talon anymore, am I?" The pyromancer walked calmly through the ring of fire, the flames parting at his presence. "I'm my own man now. I'm done worrying about other people, their feelings or safety. My only concern now, is myself."

"How very Kane-esque of you," Rowan snarled, and Talon's entire body blazed at the suggestion.

"I am nothing like him! I am better than him!" He roared.

"That's what you think," Rowan roared back, "but he didn't lock you away and leave you powerless. If you're so much better, why don't you let me out of here. We'll see just how good you really are," she sneered. Talon smirked, backing away from her prison and into the fire ring.

"You really think you'll get out with your mind games, Rowan?" He asked over the flames. "I put you in there for a reason. I want to watch you suffer, as I destroy everything dear to you. I'm going to destroy your heart, like you destroyed mine."

Rowan narrowed her eyes, her anger at his behavior welling up to uncontrollable proportions. He killed Kane just to torment her! That was completely unacceptable and Rowan was going to do everything in her power to make sure he paid dearly for his transgressions. Letting go of her rage, she once again went into a furious flurry of spell-flinging, trying to break free of her trap.

He cackled, a sound that actually sounded more like a banshee's laughter than anything living. He stopped, though, when the ring of flames suddenly disappeared.

* * *

"-way…" Alia finished her sentence from Falmea's living room at the entrance to Talon's sanctuary, stunned that they were now standing before Talon's entry wall of flames. Apparently, Falmea already knew where Talon's home was.

She also had no trouble getting through the entrance, flicking her hand nonchalantly. The wall moved away like a curtain, and she strolled through like it was a day at the park.

She surveyed the area, her flame-do hair swaying as she moved. Talon was standing by a ring of fire, which surrounded a girl Falmea recognized as Rowan Skulldreamer, the Death School teaching assistant. His other friends were sprawled around the sanctuary, slowly burning. They stood several yards away from Talon and Rowan, neither of which had noticed them yet.

"By Bartleby," Alia murmured, looking at the destruction and the state of her friends and sister. Falmea shook her head.

"Just like his father," she muttered, which got a surprised look out of Alia. She tried to ask but Falmea didn't answer. Waving her wand towards Talon's three victims, small orange sparkles trailed behind it before being cast out over the battlefield. Wherever they touched the flames nearby died. "It is safe to heal them now."

"I'm gonna need help healing them, though…" Alia proclaimed softly, unsure just how she was going to manage to get all three of them back to at least stable health. It would take a good few sprites before anyone would be able to move without pain, especially with that lingering magical fire. But what could she do?

_There are the unicorns from __Unicorn Way__, they might help,_ she thought. But then, she'd never actually _seen_ a unicorn in Unicorn Way, and had no idea where to start looking. Then she remembered Talon's first home, a cottage on a small wooded isle. She remembered him talking long ago about having a unicorn living in his grove. "I'm going to go to his wooded cottage. There's a unicorn that lives there, and she might be able to help."

"Good idea," Falmea replied. "Hurry, as soon there will be a lot of fire around here."

"Got it," Alia replied as Falmea turned towards Talon and Rowan, waving her wand. Alia disappeared in a crackle of thunder and the ring of fire ceased to burn, ending Talon's wicked laugh.

He looked at the ring, confused for a moment, before looking around and finding Falmea standing amongst the ashes, wand pointed at the young wizard.

"I'm sure I taught you better than this, Talon," Professor Falmea chided him, as Talon extended his hand and his draconic staff flew to him. He held it in both hands, pointing the crown at his professor.

"Hello, Aunt Falmea," Talon chuckled. "Come to see how much better I've gotten?"

"This ends here, child."

* * *

Alia stepped past the charred Spiral Door of Talon's wooded cottage, gazing at the destruction she saw. There were burnt stumps where beautiful trees once stood, every inch of grass was scorched, and the bridge that crossed the stream bisecting the property was destroyed. The cottage itself was in shambles, the stone foundation all that remained intact. There were some sections of the stone wall that remained standing, but they were blackened and their stability questionable.

Luckily for Alia, the unicorn she sought did not inhabit the ruined cottage. Rather, there was a small grove upon a hill where a ring of trees once surrounded a circle of cobblestones. Now, of course, the trees were all burned to the ground, large logs of charcoal haphazardly laying everywhere.

Amongst the ashes and charcoal remains was the majestic creature. Its soft, almost luminescent white body stood out in stark contrast to the environment, along with the sky blue mane and tail that rustled in the gentle breeze. The unicorn was moving between the trees with a slow, depressed posture, occasionally lowering its head to tap its horn on the ground. The horn would glow for a moment, before a small sprout would rise up from the ashes and bloom into a small, hardy wildflower.

Alia moved towards the hill slowly, depressed by the sight. The unicorn looked so sad at the death of its forest, and was trying to speed up the recovery process with the magic of Life. It was touching, and Alia felt sorry for the creature. To be betrayed in such a way by a wizard you had lived with must have hurt the unicorn deeply.

_He is not himself. I do not blame him_. The words were spoken by a soft and gentle voice in Alia's mind. She stopped at the base of the hill, looking at the unicorn. It raised its head and looked back at her.

"We need your help, Pure One," Alia stated, addressing the unicorn with the most respectful title she could think of, remembering from her classes that one should always treat a unicorn with respect. "My friends need healing, and I am not powerful enough in the ways of Life to heal them all." She bowed to the unicorn, looking at her boots instead of at the graceful creature.

She could hear the soft clop of hooves as the unicorn made its way through the remains of the grove, coming down to her. _I will help you, _the unicorn told her within her mind, nuzzling her to get her to stand. _Take me to the injured so we can begin._

* * *

When Alia and her unicorn companion returned to the battlefield, it was once more littered with flames. The battle of pyromancers was well under way, with each combatant flinging bolts of fire at the other. It looked like a table tennis match; if you set the balls on fire.

Alia glanced over to Rowan to check on her, but found her sister contained in a dark dome of shadowy magic. She could hear Rowan's rages from outside, and those cries of anger were about all that escaped the barrier. But at least she was safe.

The same could not be said for the others, however, as they were caught in the crossfire between the pyromancers. At any moment, one of them could be hit by an errant fireball. She looked to Professor Falmea, who noticed her return and took quick note of the situation.

Until now, Alia had been wondering how Falmea was fighting Talon in a dress so tight that it barely gave her legs room to move. The bright orange tails of the professor's dress no longer just _looked_ like fire; they were on fire. Falmea –seeming to Alia to be unusually uncaring about her dress being enflamed- gracefully floated to one side, seeming to glide above the ground on a cloud of flames to come to rest at Talon's front door, redirecting his blasts.

Alia and the unicorn took their opportunity to rush to the fallen, the unicorn leaving a trail of grass and flowers in its wake. The creature was gathering its magical energies around itself in preparation to heal the fallen, and the magic rippled out of the unicorn to sprout new plant life from underneath the layers of ash.

Alia wanted to heal Kane first, but she knew the better idea was to get Miguel in top condition before anyone else. Miguel also had a healing spell, so having him back in order was essential. As the unicorn stooped its majestic head to touch Kane's body with its horn, Alia moved to Miguel and began the sprite summoning spell.

* * *

Talon knew Falmea's plan when she moved to his front door. She was trying to redirect the battle away from his previous victims. But he didn't care about them anymore; Falmea was the only thing on his mind now.

"You are still as amateur as the day you entered school," Professor Falmea taunted him in her consistently smooth, sultry voice. "Have you learned nothing?"

"I'll show you amateur!" Talon began another Fire spell, flames dancing around him as the symbol formed. When it burst into action, a great twister of fire plummeted down from Talon's burning tree, rushing at the pyromancer. He raised his staff with both hands and then spun in place, and the twister followed his staff. When he came full circle, he thrust the staff towards Falmea.

The blazing tornado obeyed his command, shooting forward towards the professor. It suddenly reared back when it neared her, sprouting great fiery wings and revealing the phoenix within.

Dalia seemed unimpressed, her own Fire symbol forming as the phoenix reared back to drench her in its oppressively blazing breath. While the great bird roared out its fire, Falmea calmly watched as the red orb of her Fire shielding spell flared to life. It was a powerful shield, diverting the path of flames away from her and leaving her completely untouched.

* * *

Alia watched as the unicorn touched Miguel with its horn, bathing the sorcerer in bright white light. Her sprite was busy working a slow healing, but the unicorn's rush of life was just what was needed to jumpstart Miguel again. The unicorn moved on to Tasha as Miguel blinked and sat upright.

"Lo que está sucediendo?" Miguel asked in his native tongue, leaving Alia blinking for a moment as well. Miguel blinked some more before noticing it was Alia kneeling beside him. "Sorry… um… what's happening?"

"Professor Falmea is duking it out right now with Talon, and I'm trying to get you lot healed up before it gets way to hot for anyone except them to handle," Alia explained quickly. "I have Talon's unicorn friend helping me, and I've got a sprite working on you. But I need your help getting Tasha and Kane healed up good. You get Tasha, I'll get Kane." She didn't explain any further, and didn't need to as the night sky lit up from Talon's phoenix spell behind Miguel. He got up quickly, rushing over to Tasha just as the unicorn completed its work.

* * *

"Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" Falmea asked a stunned Talon. He had anticipated she would shield herself, but Falmea didn't even look like she broke a sweat from the heat! "It is not the strength of one's emotions, but the strength of one's discipline over their emotions, that determine the better pyromancer," she reiterated, as she burned a Fire symbol in the air with her wand.

"One without control of their emotions is a pyromaniac, not a pyromancer," she continued, the Fire symbol completed. "And they are _always_ the weaker." Falmea's entire body became fire, and she raised her hands above her head, shooting a plume of fire into the air above her. The flames grew as wide as a cloud, before form could be made out within them. The flames solidified into dark red draconic wings, the head, neck and body following a moment later.

Falmea lowered her hands as the flames subsided, leaving a giant Fire Dragon behind. The great beast flapped its wings, creating a harsh gust of wind that caused nearby fires to leap with renewed life. Landing before Talon, it quickly opened its maw, wasting no time in bathing him in the flames that lay waiting in it's gullet.

Talon had not prepared himself to face an opponent proficient in pyromancy when he had planned this evening. As a result, he wasn't as quick as he should have been in getting a Fire shield active, and though he managed to prevent the first wave of fire from harming him with the shield, it wasn't holding up for long.

And the dragon stopped only briefly, inhaling to prepare for the second wave of its assault, belching white hot flames once more. Talon just wasn't able to manage another shield in such a short time, and took the super-heated blast head-on.

_This is not the way,_ the unicorn's voice softly echoed in Alia's mind as Talon fell to his knees, covered in flames. She watched him fall, seeing the pain on his face. A part of her raged at the boy, feeling a satisfactory vengeance in his suffering. But another part of her -the part that allied with the unicorn- pitied him, feeling a pang in her heart as he collapsed to the ground.

"Have you had enough, Talon Skullflame?" Falmea asked calmly, watching him burn with a remorseless gaze.

"No…" Talon wheezed, getting back to his knees. He propped his staff up, using it to slowly pull his enflamed form off the ground. "No… I am more powerful than you… all of you… better than all of you… must prove… prove greatness…" a Fire symbol began to form before him, his arms too weak to etch it well. The spell symbol turned to ash, falling to the ground. Talon cried out in agony as the flames of the Fire Dragon pulsed with renewed strength.

_What do you mean?_ Alia thought back to the unicorn, as Talon once again failed to cast a spell. The dragon's flames were still eating into him, and he grimaced with each muscle he moved.

_In this state, he will keep fighting until he is dead, _the unicorn explained, sadness clear in the mental projection. _His rage must be calmed if he is to surrender._

_And how could we do that?_ Alia asked. Sure, the unicorn's suggestion sounded reasonable enough, but how were they going to calm a raging pyromancer? _Wait a second!_ She was sure she recalled a spell for that sort of thing, but she had long ago relegated it to the 'useless spells' section of her brain. Snapping her fingers, a white block of light formed before her, roughly the size of a tome. It became an actual tome a moment later; one Alia quickly began to flip through, looking for the spell.

"Ah ha!" She proclaimed, finding the calming spell in her spell book. _But I've never actually used it. What if I screw it up?_ She wondered, and unintentionally transferred this worry to the unicorn. The harmonious voice answered her immediately.

_We will all help you, by joining you in the Calming Song, _the unicorn told her, lifting its head to neigh. The noise roused a group of smaller unicorns from their hiding places. They were Talon's heard of pet unicorns, a smaller breed than the one from his wooded cottage, and they had all hidden behind charcoal logs to escape his fiery wrath. Now that the unicorn had called them out with a purpose they emerged, five small unicorns coming together to sing.

Alia could hear all their voices inside her mind, as they all poured their Life magic into her to strengthen her spell. Glancing one final time at her spell book to double check, she snapped her fingers again. The book disappeared, replaced by Alia slowly etching a shimmering Life symbol.

As she drew the magical rune, she began to hum a soft, lullaby like tune. The closer she came to completion, the more she raised her voice, until she was no longer humming but singing, loud and true. The Life symbol chimed and burst, filling the air all over the sanctuary with shimmering and flashing green light that projected her soft song all around them.

* * *

For what now seemed like forever to Talon, he had felt only anger and jealousy. It had been a heavy, searing flame within him that refused to be ignored and consumed his every thought. Until he heard that sweet, melodious voice fill his mind, Talon had forgotten how light-weight joy and love were by comparison. Now that voice filled the spaces of his mind, beating back the rage with forceful magic and replacing it with calmness he had not felt in some time.

It was like he had been viewing the world through fogged lenses, and only now had he cleaned them. He clearly saw the infernal tree that had once been his nature-raised sanctuary, the ashen earth that had once held a forest. He saw all of it, and knew he had caused it, that he had destroyed his own home in his anger. Tears welled up in his eyes, caused not by pain but by remorse.

"What have I done…" he murmured, before his knees gave out and he fell, barely staying upright with both hands on his staff.

Alia stopped singing when Talon fell, startled by his collapse. _Go to him, we will maintain the Song on his heart,_ the unicorn told her, and Alia complied by rushing to Talon's side.

"Talon, are you alright?" She asked, kneeling beside him. Talon merely looked up at her, then looked at the ground again, one shaking, burn-scarred hand grasping a fistful of ash.

"What have I done…" he repeated, eyes glistening as he looked upon the fruits of his rage.

"Talon?" Alia tried to get his attention again, but she was getting the distinct feeling from his behavior that the battle was over. She had succeeded in calming the beast, and the hellfire of a night was done.

The idea of peace in the sanctuary was shattered, however, when an explosive crack broke the silence. Rowan's barrier prison had been a dome of smog; now it was the center of a growing cloud of blackness. A pillar of condensed smog shot out of the center of the cloud, disappearing into the night sky.

A minute later the jet of smoke came crashing down in the middle of Talon's front lawn, radiating outward in rolling clouds. A dark figure wreathed in shadows rose up, eyes glowing bright emerald.


	12. Death's Angel

**Death's Angel**

Rowan had no idea what was going on outside of her dome; she had no awareness of Falmea's successful attacks on Talon or her dismissal of the ring of fire, nor was she aware of Alia's victory over the pyromancer's rage. All she knew was her own emotions.

As she threw her spells at her cage, she poured those emotions into each blast of Death magic. Her fear strengthened her magic, and right now she had much to fear. She feared for her own personal safety, with the flame ring surrounding her. She feared for the safety of her friends and family, left alone with that lunatic. She feared for Kane's soul, because she truly did not know what fate he faced in the afterlife.

And she was furious at the suffering Talon was putting her through: forcing her to watch as he hurt the ones she loved, threatening to incinerate her mortal form, using that threat to weaken a man she had feelings for to prove a point, leaving her helpless as she watched that man die. All her anger wrapped itself around her fears and shoved them into her spells, giving her magic greater fuel.

But it wasn't enough, and Rowan knew it when she heard some cracks, but not many; but she couldn't stop herself. She carried on, flinging ice and shadows at the dome erratically. She thought as she cast her spells, feeling that she needed more power and wondering how to get that power when trapped in here. And then she remembered Talon's words describing how he had gotten so powerful. He had stopped fearing the power within him and embraced it. Feeling that it was the only way, Rowan did the same.

Rowan's inner power was not the mighty soulfire of pyromancy, however. Rowan was undead; the most complete and perfected undeath ever known to wizard-kind, appearing alive yet undeniably unliving. The power within her, that she reached for and embraced at that moment, was the power of Death itself.

While it was true that necromancers manipulated the energies of Death in their spells, most taught necromantic spells focused on either manipulation of emotions into your spells, or the manipulation of Death's energy into a physical receptacle using your spells. Rowan took it a step further, and brought the very energy that animated her into her spells to strengthen them. She poured her very being into every single strike. It was method of spellcasting never attempted by a mortal necromancer, and the results were therefore unknowable; had she been of a clearer mind, she may have never done it.

But she had, and the result now stood in the middle of Talon's front lawn, cloaked in shadows. Those shadows began to thin, revealing the form within them.

It was Rowan, and yet it most definitely wasn't Rowan, either. Her robes were covered by the shadows now, which condensed around her like a wool cloak. Streaks of shadow danced around her, rippling over her body. Whenever they passed over her face, her beautiful tanned flesh was replaced with the pale ivory of bone, only to be flesh once more after the shadow's passing. Her eyes, however, never changed; skull or flesh, those glowing emerald eyes remained an eyeball in an otherwise empty socket.

From her back a pair of raven black wings had grown, large and beautiful and yet at the same time, intimidating and foreboding. Adding to the intimidation was her staff, Terminus. Shadows were gathering around the staff, pulled into the skull by an unseen force. The skull's mouth opened and an ebony blade grew out of it, turning the staff into a grisly scythe.

The most intimidating aspect of all, however, was Rowan's eyes. That unnatural green glow burned with fury and sorrow and vengeance, and ignored everyone else, staring right at the kneeling Talon.

Rowan had become an angel of death, and it was time for justice to be served. She moved towards Talon slowly, the clouds of smoke surrounding her moving in tandem, making it hard to tell if she was walking or floating. On her way to Talon she passed over a trail of grass and flowers left by the unicorn; they shriveled, died, and disintegrated at her passing.

Alia approached Rowan, stopping her progress to Talon with a stern gaze.

"I know what you're thinking, and I won't let you do it," Alia declared. Rowan looked at her sister, feeling her fear. Without a word, she raised her left hand to Alia's throat and lifted her off the ground. Alia grabbed at her sister's fingers and wrist, kicking out to no avail. A flicker of shadow passed over Rowan's hand, turning it to boney claws.

Rowan had always been the strongest of the three sisters, due to her undeath, but right now Alia felt that she was stronger than ever.

"Stay out of my way," Rowan commanded, her voice shifting between normal and echoing depending on the state of her mouth when she spoke a word. With cold indifference she threw Alia aside, the diviner flying some distance before landing harshly.

"Rowan, revenge is never the answer," Falmea began, but the creature that was Rowan paid her words no heed, instead waving a hand at her. The Professor was thrown back forcefully, landing in the now mud-filled pond.

Talon had not moved at all, still kneeling with one hand tightly gripping his staff and the other propping him up off the ground. But he knew Rowan's retribution was coming. He was prepared to face the consequences of his inexcusable actions.

"You killed Kane," Rowan declared, her voice devoid of any emotion. There was only the cold darkness of death in her words. "Now you will join him!"

Rowan pulled back her scythe, preparing to harvest his despicable soul. There was a small pop as a small dragon appeared above Talon. It was Dakota, but he was once more a blue dragon with orange wings, a change from when Alia had seen him. Dakota growled and hovered over Talon, remaining between him and Rowan.

"Don't defend me Dakota, I deserve this," Talon muttered, but Dakota wouldn't listen, snorting fire at Rowan.

Rowan made no response, sweeping her scythe forward with the unnerving calm of an executioner. Dakota's body was sucked into the shadows surrounding Rowan before the two halves could even touch the ground. Rowan's face was cold and heartless as she brought the scythe back for another swing.

"He's not dead, Rowan!" Miguel shouted behind her, and Rowan turned her head towards him, emitting a low 'huh' sort of hum. Miguel was kneeling next to Kane, who was sitting upright now as the sorcerer's healing spell finished what the unicorn began. Kane rubbed his forehead and nose, which felt bruised from his fall.

"But I watched-" Rowan began, but Kane cut her off.

"He tricked you, Rowan," the conjurer declared, picking Talon's athame up off the ground beside him. There was a line of crimson on the blade's edge. "The only blood on this blade is his, from when he ran his finger over the edge. His healing spell healed the cut so you never saw that." Kane dropped the knife as if it was hazardous waste, slinging one arm over Miguel's shoulder. "I think I can get up now," he mumbled to his friend, and together they stood.

Rowan's expressionless face became distorted with confusion and frustration. He had tricked her! Within her mind, she heard a cold voice declare that Talon should die for such a transgression, but she knew that voice was not her own. It was the voice of Death itself, invited into her mind when she accessed the power of undeath within her.

She had merged herself with Death, and now there was an internal battle waging. The cold voice cried out for blood and justice, but Rowan felt it was no longer justified. If he had not killed Kane, did he still deserve to die for acting it out?

The anger within her said yes.

But the human soul within her gazed upon Talon's weeping form and felt pity for him. Right now, Rowan knew his struggle as she fought with herself for control. Had Talon not spent the better part of a month in a similar state?

But there did need to be a punishment for the not-so-illusionary ring of incineration he had put her through, and for the torture of the night's activities. He had to answer for that.

"I accept the consequences," Talon declared softly, looking up at Rowan. "Just get on with it."

Rowan frowned, the shadowy streaks falling away from her face to leave it whole and fleshy once more. Her eyes continued to glow an eerie emerald, but there was a decidedly betrayed look in them. _He wants to die, doesn't he?_ She thought. _Well, then it is most definitely not a suitable punishment_. Lowering her scythe, Rowan raised her left hand instead, which became encased in a thick block of ice. She brought that hand back down with all the force she could muster.

The resulting strength of the back-handed slap shattered the ice, the shards cutting into Talon's face as he was sent spinning, landing in a haphazard sprawl on the ground. Miguel rushed over to him, fingers on Talon's neck to check his friend's pulse.

"He's still alive," Miguel exclaimed, and then pointed his sword at Rowan. "And I intend to keep it that way, you hear me?" Rowan nodded stiffly.

"Rowan…" Tasha's voice piqued up behind her, and the necromancer turned to her sister. "Perhaps you should go home for a bit, maybe relax and try to calm down?" Her voice was shuddery, bordering on stammering; she was terrified of this form of her sister, a side of Rowan she had never seen before.

"I agree," Alia stated as she rose from her final resting place. She had skid several feet along the ground when Rowan had thrown her and had ash and mud in places she probably would hate dealing with later. "We've had enough irrational behavior for one night, I think. Miguel, we'll be taking Talon to my place for healing. I suggest everyone come with us, since the unicorn will happily stay around to help with recovery." Alia approached the group now congregating around Talon and looked harshly at Rowan.

"You are not allowed in, though, until you've calmed down," Alia told her flatly. There was a no-negotiations air about her. "Can't have you randomly killing people."

Rowan knew her sisters were right, and she hated that fact. Closing her eyes, she nodded before shrinking into her shadows and disappearing.

"A part of me wouldn't have minded if she had killed him," Kane said, getting looks of disgust from everyone else. "What? Considering what he just put us through, I think it fitting!"

"How about we find out _why_ all this happened before we pass judgment, amigo?" Miguel proposed, and the girls agreed with him.

"I can help with that," Professor Falmea proclaimed as she wiped mud off her dress and approached the group.

"Then come with us," Alia told her. "I want to make sure Talon is stable before we have story time."


	13. Embracing Your Inner Fire

**Embracing Your Inner Fire**

While everyone else went to Alia's island getaway for recuperation, Kane teleported straight to Rowan's haunted mansion to check on her. The massive iron gates to what was once a cemetery of a mansion, and now Rowan's residence, were ajar upon his arrival, and it didn't take long to find Rowan amongst the graves that filled her lawn.

Rowan was sitting on a gravestone, her cloak of shadows writhing around her. The seductively black raven wings were folded in a deceptively angelic manner, and her staff turned scythe was in her hand, propped on the ground as she looked at the grave below her. Kane wasn't sure how, but the scythe blade seemed smaller.

"Rowan?" Kane's hard, strong voice cut through the silence of the cemetery, prompting the angel of death to turn her head. Her long black hair, normally straight, was dancing around her head in waves as if brushed by a breeze, its motion matching the shadows shifting around her. He noticed the ferocity of her eyes was gone, the emerald glow diminished. "Are you alright?"

Rowan shook her head, a motion that invited shadows to sweep across her face and peel away the flesh to reveal ivory bone. For a brief moment, Kane was scared. In this state, Rowan looked like an incarnation of the one thing Kane feared most: Death. But he swallowed his fear and moved in front of her, sitting his burn-scarred self on a gravestone.

"What happened out there Rowan?" He asked softly, looking her in the face even though half of it was beautiful woman, and half was hideous skull. "What caused this?" Rowan remained silent for a time, looking between the ground and Kane.

"I wanted to kill Talon, for what he did to me," Rowan finally spoke, her voice shifting between normal and ethereal. "Wanted to send him after you into the underworld. And I almost did…"

"He kinda deserves it if you ask me," Kane shrugged, mostly trying to make Rowan stop putting herself down so much for her desire.

"Don't side with him," Rowan hissed, the blade of her scythe growing longer. Kane raised an eyebrow.

"Who? Talon? Did he think he deserved it?" Kane inquired, confused. Rowan shook her head, her dark wings fluttering.

"Not what I meant, although he was willing to accept death. I meant Death, himself. Don't side with him, please…" Rowan told him. Kane watched as the scythe blade shrank again. It suddenly dawned on Kane, and his violet eyes widened in fear

"You didn't…" His voice was whispery and filled with doubt, but Rowan heard it well, shaking her head to acknowledge his fears. _She did!_

"I needed to be stronger to get out of that prison," Rowan explained, looking down at the dirt. "So, like Talon, I fully connected with the power within me. That power just so happens to be the animating energies of Death itself, and when I drew from those energies for my spells, I drew Death into me as well." Rowan looked away from the grave and Kane, shutting her eyes. "He made me slay Dakota, and nearly made me kill Talon…" A single tear of watery ectoplasm rolled down her face.

Kane knew what she was referring to, and that's why he was scared; Rowan had drawn the deity of Death into herself. The incarnation of Death magic went by many names: the Reaper, Hades, Satan, Lucifer, Angel of Death, Fallen One, The Final Visitor, and the list went on. But there was always one definitive, iconic characteristic to him, no matter the form or name; when he called upon you, you never breathed again.

As Kane knew from his studies, Death was one of the Spiritual deities of magic, a group of lesser known cousins to the Titans. Just as the Elements had their Titan originators, the Spirit schools had originating deities. But while the Titans created the land, sea, and sky, the Spirits' role in creation was to define that which was already created. Chaos, order, chronology, imagination, beginnings, finality; these were concepts brought about by the Spirit deities.

The sister deity and opposition of Death was Nature, first-born of Bartleby and bringer of life. Myth magic was brought about by a deity that Kane truly knew little about, mostly because he never appeared the same way. Myth's deity had no name and no form; any records that hinted to his presence never matched in descriptions of appearance, name, or even personality. Balance was the only form of magic Kane knew of with no originating or ruling deity. Being an amalgam of all magical forms, and a form of magic created by Wizards, it had no god-like creator to rule over it.

Kane's least favorite of the deities he studied was Death, partly because it was the god of the one thing he worked hardest to avoid. And yet here he was, fighting with Rowan inside her mind.

"I am touched by you doing this out of revenge for me, but you didn't have to," Kane told her, "even if he actually killed me."

"You didn't have to give me the amulet," Rowan shot back, her left hand reaching for the bauble around her neck. "And yet, here it is." Kane looked at the amulet, and Rowan glanced at it briefly, a curiosity crossing her features. "Did you actually do that out of love for me?" She asked softly. "I mean, it wasn't really necessary, but you did it anyways. Does that mean-"

"We're not talking about that right now," Kane shot down the question quickly, getting up from his seat.

"Alright," Rowan sighed, looking at the ground again. Right now she was in no mood to press the matter. "Please check on Talon for me… make sure he's okay."

"I think you care way too much about a man who tried to give you a funeral pyre," Kane jabbed, "but very well, I will." With that, he teleported away to Alia's, leaving Rowan alone in her dismal graveyard.

* * *

Alia's home wasn't very big, especially compared to her sisters' and friends'. But that was just fine for Alia; she didn't need a big mansion home to be happy. Her little tropical shack suited her just fine, nestled in the heart of a palm-covered island surrounded by sea. There was always a brisk, salty sea breeze, never a dreary day –Alia loved the rain as much as she did the sun, perhaps even more- and it was never, ever quiet. There was always a chorus of tropical birds or insects buzzing about, or the cascade of the waterfall beside her shack to fill the silence, just how Alia liked it.

The small size of her tropical paradise was a slight problem, however, when she had all the gang sans Rowan and Talon recuperating in her dining/entry hall. Her main hall was an explosion of blue with underwater wallpaper and a ring rug with an ocean pattern that surrounded a central dirt pit. That pit had a seashell table and clam-chairs, where Miguel, Tasha, and Kane currently sat.

Somehow, inexplicably, Alia's pet firecat, Samson, had thought that joining Kane on his lap was a good idea. After the third time dropping the cat off his lap, Kane gave up. It wasn't until a ghostly apparition appeared, moving towards Kane's lap and scaring off the firecat, that he had any success keeping it off. The apparition finalized its form, revealing itself to be Tyson, his ghost dragon. The spectral reptile curled up on his lap where Samson once lay, and Kane lightly stroked the ethereal beast.

"Hello Tyson," Kane said idly as the others watched, and the dragon rumbled with pleasure. Kane was the only one the dragon allowed to call him Tyson, or even Ty. Everyone else had to add the title of Lord to get as much as a tail flick of his attention.

Falmea stood beside the table, watching the hallway that led to Alia's other rooms, including her bedroom. It had been at least twenty minutes since Miguel had helped her bring Talon into her bedroom for healing. By now, the unicorn, which also stood in Alia's dining hall, had fully healed everyone.

"I am still of the opinion that it would be better to bring him to Moolinda," Falmea commented, folding her arms.

"I am actually inclined to agree with Alia on this one," Miguel declared. "I believe Talon would prefer this stay within el grupo. When he wakes, he will be undoubtedly regretful of his actions."

"Nothing against Moolinda," Tasha added quickly when the professor looked insulted by Miguel's statements. "But getting Talon to her would risk the rumor mill catching wind, see?"

Before Falmea could respond, Alia walked into the room, smiling. Until she saw Tyson on Kane's lap.

"Oh, now you show up?" She criticized the ghostly pet, which ignored her. "I ask you to go find Kane, and what do you do? You find him after everything is said and done? Useless." Tyson growled and looked at Alia, snorting ethereal fire. Kane glared at her.

"He was being a good boy and following instructions," Kane retorted. "I'd specifically told him to not look for me, even if others asked him to, so lay off." Alia harrumphed and folded her arms, turning away from the two of them.

"Anyways, he's stabilized now," Alia announced. "He passed out again though, but at least his heart is regular and everything will keep working." What she didn't tell them was that Rowan had actually fractured Talon's jaw and nearly broke his neck, and that at some point, someone had broken his leg and a few ribs as well. He was in immense pain from those injuries, and that wasn't even counting the third degree burns he suffered at the hands of Falmea or the cuts and bruises littering his body.

The unicorn had been right. He would have fought until he died; she had just examined the proof of that statement. And knowing this made Alia wonder all the more why he would put his life on the line like that.

"Well, then, Professor Falmea," Miguel turned from Alia to look at the Fire Professor. "Would you care to make good on your offer of información?"

"Why yes, Professor," Kane mocked Miguel's tone, putting his feet up on Alia's table. "Regale us with your tale of how he's innocent and misunderstood and deserves our kindness and mercy." Kane rolled his eyes. Alia frowned at his behavior; it was both a jeer at her brother-in-law and an insult towards the man who was currently her patient. Alia calmly walked up to him and punched him, knocking him over backward.

"Feet off the table!" She ordered as a cover up for her real reason for punching him. Kane got back up, holding his newly minted black eye. He looked furious, but she held up an index finger at him.

"Touch me, boy," she declared with a stern tone, "and you're on the floor again." Kane growled, picking his chair up and righting it. Alia sat down in it once it was positioned, much to Kane's chagrin. "Thank you." Kane decided to just stand there and fume while Miguel chuckled, shaking his head.

"He doesn't deserve your mercy, Darksword," Falmea responded, amused by Alia's strong-arm antics. "He does, however, deserve your caution."

"Why?" They all asked in unison.

"Because if he truly applied himself, Talon has the potential to become the greatest pyromancer in the Spiral, being the child of two of the strongest pyromancers I know," Falmea explained, and while Kane seemed unimpressed, the other three were interested. Seeing that she might have to explain more, she continued. "Within every living thing is a flame, an inner fire that is the seat of emotion. Pyromancers can access this inner flame at will, and it is the source of our power. Some are better than others at touching their emotions, and therefore the fire within. Some, like Talon, are so in tune with their heartfire that pyromancy is less an art and more a feeling, a natural extension of their emotional state. The reason Talon was so powerful tonight was that he connected fully with this emotional fire, allowing it to consume, control, and overwhelm him."

"So that wasn't actually Talon we were fighting, was it?" Miguel asked, curious as to whether or not this had been the situation for the past month.

"Technically, yes it was, but you were fighting his emotions, not himself personally. What we saw tonight was unbridled rage in its purest form," the professor answered, and Tasha whistled.

"He's even worse than you, Alia… You just zap things. He burns the house down," Tasha commented, and while there was a slight hint of teasing in her voice, Alia got the feeling that Tasha wasn't entirely joking with that statement.

"Professor," Alia began, shrugging off her sister's comment. "You mentioned when we got to the battle that he was 'just like his father'. Am I correct in assuming his father has done the same thing he did tonight?" Alia finally asked the question that had nagged her since Falmea had made that statement.

"More times than I care to remember," Falmea admitted, sounding very disgusted at the memory. "While we were in school together, there was the constant threat of a flash fire burning the building to the ground." The others looked awed, but Kane smirked.

"How is Ravenwood still standing, then?" Kane asked.

"Through careful manipulation of the man," Falmea explained. "Talon's father was even worse than he is. That man would explode (literally and figuratively) at the smallest provocation, going into rages like the one we saw tonight over something even as simple as the school cafeteria not having fries that day. My sister was the only person in the school who could calm him back then; he had always had a soft spot for her. I personally don't know what she saw in him, but…" Falmea rolled her eyes.

"You don't like your brother-in-law, do you?" Alia smirked, glancing at Miguel, who looked suddenly worried.

"Don't get me wrong, his father is an exceptional, incredibly powerful wizard. Extremely in touch with his inner fire." Falmea proclaimed with some respect in her voice. "But he was also for quite some time the worst pyromaniac the Spiral had ever known, even before being admitted to Ravenwood." Falmea added.

"What made him change?" Miguel asked, noticing Falmea's use of the past tense.

"Ice magic," Falmea wrinkled her nose as she said it, and Tasha returned the expression. "I know," she joined Tasha in shaking her head, "he's not very good at it either, mostly only good with the defensive spells. But it was the philosophy, not the spells themselves, of thaumaturgy that helped him control himself."

"How?" Kane asked quickly. It just didn't make sense how a pyromancer would even bother to learn thaumaturgy, let alone gain something from it. Tasha suddenly burst with understanding and was eager to explain. Falmea gave her the floor, and Tasha turned to face the others.

"Emotionally, thaumaturgy focuses on patience, resilience, and calmness. We strive to be cool, calm, and collected no matter the situation," Tasha explained. "So, it would have helped his father keep his cool, even if they served potato chips." They nodded, finally understanding at least a little how that would have worked.

"But Talon minored in Life magic, not Ice," Alia commented, "So is Life to him like Ice to his father?" She turned to Falmea.

"So far as we know, yes," Falmea answered. "From an early age Talon showed a love of nature and animals. So naturally we encouraged him to seek out Life magic when he started attending Ravenwood. This is the first time he has ever had an episode."

"Well that's good to know," Kane muttered with faked enthusiasm. Everyone ignored him.

"But that doesn't mean he won't have another episode for a few years," Falmea cautioned. "It is entirely possible that this first episode could be the beginning of a very difficult emotional time for him. If not managed through careful relations and ample time around nature, he could become like his father." Everyone cringed, and Kane actually shuddered slightly.

"But why is _he_ so connected to his emotions that he could have this problem?" Alia inquired. "I have been with many pyromancers and pissed off several of them with nowhere near this kind of result."

"That is un muy bueno point," Miguel stated. "What makes Talon, and his padre, different from those other pyromancers?"

"Talon is one of the few who can claim to be a direct descendent of the Dracomancers of Dragonspyre," Falmea explained, "from both sides of his family, Dragonspyrian blood runs in his veins. He was _born_ a pyromancer."

"I thought the dracomancers were all killed by the Titan's army," Kane commented, beginning to show signs of being legitimately impressed. Falmea shook her head.

"Not all dracomancers agreed with the summoning, and when they discovered it was to happen, those wise enough fled the world with the Dragonspyre Key, along with handfuls of civilians."

"And you gave the key to the Emperor of Mooshu for safe keeping," Alia added. Falmea nodded again.

"At that time, my ancestor's greatest ally was Mooshu, and so my ancestor's entrusted the Emperor with the Key." Falmea smiled at them now. "Until you opened the Spiral Door again, my people were too afraid to ever return. When you defeated Malistaire and the Dragon Titan's army, however, that changed."

"The Dragonspyre revival," Kane stated, and the other three looked at him. "Didn't you hear about it? After we had defeated Malistaire and reclaimed Dragonspyre, Headmaster Ambrose and the Emperor of Mooshu gave several powerful pyromancers and people claiming Dragonspyrian descent permission and funding to begin rebuilding the place."

"Oh, well that's cool!" Alia grinned.

"I hated that place," Tasha balked.

"It would probably interest you to learn then, Darksword, that my sister was the pyromancer chosen to lead the revival," Falmea proudly declared. Kane's attention was riveted.

"You mean… Talon's mother is the headmistress of the Revived Dragonspyre Academy?" Falmea nodded, and Kane folded his arms and smirked. "Now that's something."

"She just said awhile back that his parents were some of the strongest pyromancers ever," Tasha commented with an annoyed tone, "and only _now_ you are impressed?"

"There's a difference between claiming strength and applying it, Tasha," Kane shot back. "And besides, there is something you all are missing here."

"What?"

"As headmistress and overseer of the rebuilding of Dragonsypre and its Academy," Kane explained, "Talon's mother would be a strong contender for the throne of Dragonspyre, when the world is rebuilt enough to sustain its own government and economy. I doubt there would be many who would contest her right to rule when she leads the reconstruction."

"Oh," Tasha replied.

"Wow," Alia whistled. "So… basically, I'm taking care of a man who might quite possibly be a prince? Well, that will make mom happy," Alia chuckled, and Tasha laughed too. "What about his father?"

"He has been managing the rebuilding and restocking of the Atheneum since the reconstruction began," Falmea answered, and Kane grinned. "His family did not hold to their Dragonspyrian traditions as closely as my own, so he wasn't as suitable a candidate for Headmaster. That, and while his temperament has improved over the years, especially since fathering my nephew, no one wanted to risk him lapsing again during the painstaking task of reconstruction."

"Leading reconstruction could potentially set him off?" Alia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like I said," Falmea replied. "The man used to go off because of a lack of fries for lunch. The rigorous task of restocking and rejuvenating the Atheneum is stressing enough for any man. Leading the rebuilding of a whole civilization would undoubtedly take its toll on his patience at some point, and he would snap again. Just like Talon eventually snapped because something became too much for him to handle," Falmea explained, and everyone glanced at Kane. He folded his arms and glared back at each of them.

"I will not pretend to know what set Talon off this time," Falmea continued, "and I personally don't care. Just make sure it does not happen again." She looked rather sternly at Kane for this statement. She had a feeling from Kane's behavior, and how everyone else was treating him, that he was somehow to blame. Kane threw his arms up, muttering about everyone criminalizing him. The others glared at him for the comment and silence fell across the room.

The silence was broken by a soft reminder of the time of day and how little sleep they had gotten of late. The reminder was Tasha yawning and stretching, causing her sister and husband to yawn as well, though Miguel fought it back as best he could.

"I think it is time we all rest from our grueling evening," Falmea declared as she watched the student wizards. "May you rest well. And thank you, Alia, for your efforts in helping me quell him. The night may have ended differently otherwise."

"You're welcome," Alia replied. "And please keep the other professors out of the loop. We want to keep this out of the rumor mill as long as possible."

"You have my word," Falmea promised, before disappearing in a flash of flames.

"Now, time to rest," Alia said, standing and stretching. Her body protested, having enjoyed being seated after a harsh battle. Her body simply didn't want to move one more inch. "We should meet up for dinner here later and discuss our next move concerning Talon."

"Dinner?" Kane snorted. "No one is seeing a hair from my head until twenty four hours from now, at least." Alia put a hand on her hip, then reached up and grabbed a strand of his blond hair, plucking it. Avoiding Kane's swats, she placed the strand on the table.

"There."

"You know what I meant, Alia," Kane growled.

"I'm sure she did, and I'm sure we could all use some sleep," Tasha interrupted, grabbing Miguel's hand. "So how about we all go home now. Bye."

When everyone had finally left, Alia wandered into her bedroom, looking at the sleeping form of Talon. She had pulled the sheets up to his neck to keep him warm, and he looked surprisingly peaceful as he lay there, unconsciously sleeping.

"You're lucky I'm used to sleeping beside Rowan, and don't mind a cold floor," Alia muttered, grabbing a spare blanket and laying it on the floor beside her bed. Slowly she peeled off her armor, ash falling on the floor as she did so. She'd have to clean that up later, but right now she was too tired to do so.

_And to think I started out this evening horny… now I'm anything but._ Alia stretched after putting on her purple shirt and green pants that she used as pajamas, before grabbing another blanket to cover her and lying down.

"Goodnight Talon."

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_This is the end of _The Fire Within_, but not the end of our adventures, oh no. Much of the information presented in this chapter has merely laid the groundwork for the sequel, _From the Ashes_, __which will feature action and adventure and deep spiritual/emotional inflection as we focus on recovering from this incident. I will begin work on _From the Ashes _as soon as I am able. I hope you have enjoyed this dramatic trip through Pyromancy/mania! _


End file.
